Sun's Night
by Dementra
Summary: WIP. A Light so radiant, Death cannot help but take a hold of it, desiring to taint it with its darkness. Seeing no other way, the Sun Sets, bringing out the Night God in its full glory. Inuyasha Death Note xover
1. The Sun Sets And Rises Again

_**Light to Your Darkness**_

**Hi! Thanks for wanting to read this fanfic. I hope you like this story.**

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_**Chapter 1 The Sun Sets And Rises Again**_

Two days.

It has been two days ever since the cameras and bugs have been secretly installed in the two suspected households—the Kitamura and the Yagami. The whole Kira investigation team from the NPD, the world's top detective, L, and L's helper, Watari, have been sitting there for hours staring at the numerous TV screens, and yet, nothing relevant to their case was found. Naturally, they took turns doing different Kira-finding-related works (except for L, who stayed by the screens before and after the others did—they were all secretly wondering whether he even slept at all), but they were still no closer to finding Kira than they were two days ago.

Matsuda Touto sighed in boredom as he looked at—spied on—his Chief's family. Taking his eyes off of the screens, he observed the rest of the team.

L, whose real name was a mystery to almost everyone (he was sure that Watari should know it), was staring at the other screens—sitting on the chair, his back curled, his knees pulled up to his chest, his toes rubbing each other, his mouth nibbling on his thumb, and his free hand stirring his highly-sweetened coffee. He really was a strange guy, someone that he would have never envisioned as the infamous L. Watari, whose real name was also unknown, was out of the room as usual, but he was probably working elsewhere on L's orders.

His Chief, Yagami Soichiro, was sitting right next to L, his eyes intently scanning the new information they have gotten about Kira's killings. (Seriously, that Kira person was really something. Not only has he been able to kill people off with unknown means, he has also lowered the rates of criminal activity drastically.) Mogi Kanzo, easily the quietest guy on the team, and Aizawa Shuichi were looking at the feed from the cameras installed in the Kitamura's house. Ukita Hirokazu was not present as it was his turn to stay behind at the Kira Investigation Headquarters (the fake one ever since L stepped in). He was probably bored to death by now. (He knows from first-hand experience.)

Sighing once again, Matsuda turned back to the screens. His eyes opened wide in surprise at the unusual sight that greeted him. It seemed that in the few minutes in which he had taken his eyes off of the screens, someone unknown to the team has arrived at the Yagami house.

Yagami Sayu, the Chief's only daughter, was happily hugging a taller girl while her older brother, Raito, stood to the side, next to the opened door and a worn-looking yellow bag, with an unreadable look on his face (then again, he could never really read the faces of most inverted people anyways). The girl has long black hair. (He rubbed his eyes. Was that blue he saw in it? Yep, it was still there, but it was probably the camera's fault.) She was wearing a white turtleneck shirt, a pair of jeans, and white sneakers.

Excitedly, Matsuda pointed at the screen and exclaimed, "Chief! Chief! Take a look at this!"

"What it is?" the older man asked, eyes not straying off the documents.

"Come, take a look!" he insisted. "There's someone new at your house."

Curious, the older man quickly rushed over, as did everyone else in the room, to see what the commotion was about.

By now, the girl was being hugged by Soichiro's wife, whose tears trailed down her face.

Soichiro gasped, his eyes widening in recognition behind his glasses. "Kagome! What's she doing there?!"

Lightly nibbling on his thumb and turning up the volume, L commented, "Hm… It seems like she is carrying bad news, judging by the way they are crying." Still, it was better to ask questions later and focus on the footage now.

_Sachiko cried into Kagome's shoulder. "I can't believe it! I-I just turned on the TV and… and… saw all those fire trucks and ambulance. I can't believe that they are gone!"_

Once again, the Chief gasped, as the implications made themselves clear in his mind. _'There was no way… no way that that could have happened! No way! It can't be!'_ he thought, wanting to deny all that his observant mind, nurtured from his experiences as part of the NPD, told him.

_Patting her back, the teen smiled sadly. "It's alright, Aunt Sachiko. I'm sure that they're in a better place now, watching over us. They must be happy to be reunited with father again. Well, Souta doesn't even remember him, so it'll be like the first meeting for them. Come on, don't cry. Everyone dies sooner or later. It was just sooner for them, that's all."_

That girl seems a little too calm, to L, for someone who has just lost her family. Either she had something to do with it or she is a very strong person who has already done her grieving or will do her grieving later.

_A few seconds later, Raito chuckled softly _(L's eyes narrowed ever so slightly upon hearing that. Was the boy responsible for it?) _and placed his hand on his mother's shoulder. "Kaa-san, shouldn't you be the one doing the comforting? Not the other way around? I don't mean to be rude, but… Gome is the one who just lost the rest of her family in that unfortunate accident, not us."_

Hearing that said out loud, there was no way that Yagami Soichiro can deny the truth, especially when it was spoken by his prodigal son, someone who never jokes about serious matters like that. "Why wasn't I informed of this?" he cried out in anguish.

"_Yeah, kaa-san," Sayu agreed. "Even nee-chan, who should be crying, is not."_

_Letting go of Kagome, who apparently decided that the floor was very interesting to stare at, Sachiko wiped away her tears and chuckled. "Right, silly me. I should do the comforting first, and then cry."_

_After a few seconds, Raito asked, "Could you repeat that, Gome? I couldn't catch that."_

_The girl looked up—angry blue meeting confused auburn. "I said it wasn't an accident. My family was _murdered_!"_

Gasps were heard all around, from and out of the TV screens. Only a certain top detective did not do so. Instead, he popped another sugar cube into his mouth, his mind whirring a mile a second._ 'Hm… does this have anything to do with Kira? But, if Yagami-kun was Kira, why would he kill them? And by fire too…'_ L popped another two sugar cubes into his mouth.

"_What did you mean by 'murdered', Gome?" questioned Raito. "Do you know something?"_

"_Of course, I 'know something'," Kagome huffed, "Why else would I claim that it was a murder?"_

L looked at her thoughtfully. Then perhaps she has seen the murderer and/or has witnessed the killing and somehow got away with it. However, the latter was very unlikely. A normal civilian who has just witnessed the slaughter of their family would not act like this; they would be traumatize, something that that girl does not seem.

_The genius continued, "But the reporter in the news clearly said that the police said it was an accident involving kitchen fire."_

_She snorted, "What do those idiots really know? All they know is that our house was ablaze by the time they arrived and that my family's corpses were found in the kitchen area, and then they immediately deduct that their deaths were caused by kitchen fire. And, they won't even believe me when I showed them all my observations, saying that the grief must've gotten into me and that I didn't want to believe that my family's gone because of an accident! It only shows that they need to go back to school."_

"_So, why do you think it was a murder?"_

Yes, why indeed. Unconsciously, the panda-eyed detective leaned a bit closer to the screen in anticipation for her answer, as the others in the room.

_Kagome lifted up a finger. "First of all, if it was really a kitchen fire accident, then my family would've gotten out alive. I don't believe that they would _all_ be sleeping in the kitchen at the same time, unless drugged or knocked unconscious or dead. The kitchen, as you should remember, was the closet room to the front door, aside from the dining room. Plus, even if that route was, for some unknown reason, blocked, there's still the window next to the sink, _away _from all the possible fire-starting equipments and chemicals. It is big enough for a grown up to get through. And even if those routes were really blocked, their bodies still wouldn't be in the kitchen, since they would've tried to get out of the house by the means of going to other rooms."_

He nodded approvingly. Yes, their corpse's location was indeed strange. However, it was something that normal people would not think of. L has to give her some credit for her intelligence.

_The brunette lifted up another finger. "Secondly, the firemen who were there said that by the time they arrived, the whole house was ablaze. As you know, my house is located on top of a hill and about three minutes away from the fire station by car. Also, it takes only a few minutes to climb up the stairs for healthy and trained people."_

_The four Yagami _(including Soichiro)_ nodded._

"_If there was a fire, the smoke can be spotted easily since it's so high up. Therefore, it couldn't have taken the firemen to get to my home more than ten minutes. I know, for a fact, that there was no heavy traffic during that time, because I was out with my friends at a nearby mall. My house is big enough that there's no way the whole thing would be burning within ten minutes naturally. And, we didn't have a lot of highly flammable chemicals around, because jii-san is pretty old-fashioned."_

_Another finger went up. "Thirdly, I noticed something kind of weird about where the flames touched. Some parts, especially the area around the house, were more burnt, as if there was something there that caught the bunt of the flames. Of course, that may be normal, I don't know because it's my first time ever to see a burnt down building up close with my own eyes."_

_Putting down her hand, she continued, "Anyways, from what I have analyzed, I say that someone had broke into my home when I was out, killed or knocked out my family (probably the former), gathered their bodies in the kitchen so that it would look like an accident (like what those idiotic police believed), then he or she probably poured a highly-flammable substance all over the house, and lit the fire to destroy all evidence. The killer also probably had a change of clothing and burnt his or her clothes along with the house. Since it'll be hard to escape unnoticed before everyone else arrived, he or she probably hid somewhere near by, and when there was a crowd of normally-dressed people, the killer slipped in as part of the curious bystanders and got away with his crime." She shrugged, "Or something like that at least."_

"That girl is quite intellectual," commented L._ 'And calm too, despite that it was her family who just died about hours ago. Could she be her family's killer? But, then again, it was probably the anger that drove the sadness out for now.'_

_Then Kagome glared at Raito again. "But whatever the scenario concerning the killer really was, there is no doubt in my mind that my family was murdered, no matter what the police said otherwise._

_Raito held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, calm down, Gome. I never said that I didn't believe you. But with all those observations, it's hard to believe that the police would just brush it aside as an accident."_

"_I told you, those nincompoops thought that I was just thinking too much of it because I wanted someone to blame for their deaths that is not part of my family." Then she shrugged. "Oh well, it's not like they could actually find the murderer anyways."_

L narrowed his eyes slightly at that. It was more like the talk of a confident criminal, an overly confident criminal who was careless with his/her words.

"_One, they are too stupid and conceited to. Oh! But not Uncle Soichiro, of course! Just those lower-level police who thinks that they are all-so-smart because they are the police. And, two, they probably carelessly removed all the needed evidence to prove it was a murder, so it's useless to try and find the murderer. So, um… anyways…" Kagome looked at Sachiko shyly, "could I stay here for a while until I can find somewhere else to live? I can even start searching for apartments right now!"_

_The woman laughed, "Of course, you could stay here, Kagome… for as long as you like! There's no need to find somewhere else to stay. After all, you are practically a part of our family."_

"_Yeah," Sayu grinned. "All that's left is to have you marry nii-san."_

"_Sayu!" the two blushing teens shouted (Kagome was definitely the redder one). Leaving the adult behind with the bag, they chased the giggling girl upstairs to her room, where she locked the door, thus making them unable to get their revenge for their embarrassment._

Ignoring the screens (for now) for the sake of getting more information on the newcomer, L turned to look at Soichiro and asked, "Who is this 'Kagome'?"

Sighing, the Chief sat down. "Her father was Higurashi Ryuu, my best friend since high school. We were so close that we were brothers in everything but blood. He was also a detective like me, but he died on a job ten years ago. All that was left of the Higurashi family was his father, Seki; his wife, Kun-loon; his eldest daughter, Kagome; and his son, Souta. We had offered for them to move to an apartment near us so that we could help them out in taking caring of the children and stuff like that, but they had refused, saying that they would rather stay at the Higurashi Shrine." Tears dripped down his cheeks. "When I last saw them five years ago, they were all so lively. But, now… But now…"

He could say no more in his grief, preferring to take off is glasses and cry in his hands. The others did not push him, letting him let out his sorrow for his lost friends. Silently, they all went back to what they were doing before the arrival of one Higurashi Kagome.

**--- --- ---**

Getting out of the car and saying 'thank you' and 'goodbye' to the kind policeman that dropped her off here from her home… no, her former home. Now it was gone up in flames, literally, and she could no longer go back. Sure, the property still belonged to her, but she does not have enough money to fix the damage yet. So, now here she was, standing in front of a house she has not seen in about five years, hoping that the family who lives here would take her in, for the moment at least, until she got everything in order.

By now, most people would either be a sobbing mess or too numb to do anything; but, she was not 'most people'. No, she definitely was not. After all, no one can say that a girl who travels back in time to the feudal era, goes across Japan with a group of misfits in their own way, searching for a shattered almighty pink sphere with the power to increase one's powers tenfold at least while battling demons and humans alike, 'most people'.

Even so, there was an even greater reason why she was not crying. This was not the first family she has lost. Her second family, the one formed in the feudal era has died long before she was born. There was no way that she could ever see them again, not while the portal was now nonexistent. Even if some of them, namely the demons, did survive, it was not like it would be easy to find them; after all, they had to be good at hiding in order to shield themselves from the humans' eyes.

She did not cry back then, so she would not do so now. It was a promise made with her feudal era family. Neither of them would mourn for their lost anymore (there was just too much of it), instead they would hold their head up high and bask in the memories of when they were together. In a way, everyone she knew (loved or hated) was still living with her. They would never truly die.

Nervously, she shifted her big yellow bag, which holds all of her remaining belongings that did not perish in the terrible fire. It was funny really, just how much this bag gone through some of the most important times of her life with her—though middle school, through her adventures in the Feudal Era, part way through high school, and now through her family's death and into her new life as the sole Higurashi in her grandfather's line.

Still, she did not understand why she was feeling so anxious. It was not like the family who loves here were strangers. No. In fact, it was the complete opposite. She has practically grown up knowing the Yagami in courtesy of her late father. Therefore, she knows that there was no way that they would turn her away… unless she has been terribly mistaken about them, which she seriously doubts.

Taking a deep breath, she lifted up her left arm and pressed the doorbell.

After what seemed like an eternity (though she knew that it was probably only a few seconds), the door opened to reveal a very familiar looking face, who was taller than her by about her head. (She pouted inwardly, _'_I_ was the one who was taller the last time we met. No fair!'_) He has short, very tame, auburn hair, which framed his face neatly (just like how he always was—neat), and equally auburn eyes, which were staring at her in surprise. The other seventeen-year-old was wearing similar clothing to her (minus the sneakers and jeans, and add in a pair of black pants). He was still as handsome and aristocratic as ever, much like how Sesshomaru was.

However, what caught her undivided attention was the dark aura leeching off her childhood friend and the black demon floating beside him, his blue lips stretched into a very wide grin. She really did not like the aura; it reeks of death, an aura death that exceeds far beyond than that of Kikyo's before she died… once again.

'_Does Raito-kun even know that there's a demon hanging around him? And that aura that surrounds him… so similar to that of the demon's…'_

"Raito-kun!" she cried out joyously. Quickly dropping her bag unceremoniously to the ground, she pounced (making him stagger back a little at the sudden weight) and hugged him (wincing a little when pain erupted from her new wounds cause by her carelessness). All the while, she was letting out a very minimal amount of her powers to purify the unwanted aura, which was a surprisingly easy thing to do despite its murkiness.

"Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk," the demon chuckled. "How interesting. Who is she, Raito? Another girlfriend of yours?" He was noticeably floating further away from the duo. She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. Only powerful demons were able to sense that small amount of power. But, then again, maybe it just sensed the dark aura around Raito, or rather lack thereof.

"Gome?" asked Raito.

Ignoring its presence for the moment, Kagome nodded in his chest and whispered so softly that Raito had to strain his ears to hear her. "Oh, Raito-kun, what have you been doing?" She glared at the demon for a split second. "Why is there a demon hanging around you?"

He tensed up, his heart started beating faster, and his aura became uneasy. That confirms that he knew of the demon's presence. Relaxing, he chuckled and replied just as softly, "What do you mean by that, Gome? You must be seeing things from the shock.

"I am certain that I'm not seeing things, Raito-kun. But, don't worry, I won't tell anyone…" she paused. "Well… at least not yet. Remember, you better give me an explanation soon, or else I _will_ tell someone, probably your father." He tensed up even further if that was possible. _'So, there was something going on…'_ "And don't even attempt to threaten me into silence, Raito-kun. There's a_ reason_ why I can see them and why that demon is obviously wary of me."

Knowing that there was no way around it, Raito whispered back, "Fine, I'll explain later. There are cameras around here—I'll tell you about them later as well—so, I can't talk freely here. But you better not tell anyone else."

She looked at him seriously. "Trust me; I am not a chatterbox when it comes to things like this. I will definitely wait for the explanation, but it better be within these few days, or else I'll force it out one way or another."

"Nee-chan!" a female shouted in delight. "You're okay! How did you get all the way over here?"

The two of them let go of one another to see Sayu and jumping onto Kagome (who responded with an "Oof" and "Sayu").

Kagome smiled, "One of the policemen was nice enough to drive me over here, so here I am!"

"Oh, Kagome!" cried out another voice. Just as the two girls let go of each other, the brunette found herself wrapped in the arms of her crying aunt. "I can't believe it! I-I just turned on the TV and… and… saw all those fire trucks and ambulance. I can't believe that they are gone!" Sachiko wailed even louder.

Smiling sadly, the teen slowly patted the distressed woman's back, hoping to comfort her. While Ryuu and Soichiro could be seen as brothers, Kun-loon and Sachiko could be seen as sisters. From what she remembered, her father and her uncle had met her mother, who in turned introduced them to her aunt. In a way, it was like two brothers marrying two sisters (not that that situation happens often); that was one of the reasons why the Higurashi and the Yagami were practically family. _'Funny, isn't it usually the other way around?'_ she thought wryly.

As if reading her thoughts, a few seconds later, Raito chuckled softly and placed his on his mother's shoulder. "Kaa-san, shouldn't you be the one doing the comforting? Not the other way around? I don't mean to be rude, but… Gome is the one who just lost the rest of her family in that unfortunate accident, not us."

Upon hearing the word 'accident', her gaze turned to the floor as anger started to fill her. Dimly, she noted that Sachiko had let go of her. It was no accident! Her family's death was _not_ an accident!

"Could you repeat that, Gome? I couldn't catch that."

Raito's voice brought her out of her thoughts. It seems that she had unknowingly spoken her thoughts out loud. Still, it was too late to take her words back now and it would be better if the people who were close to her family know the truth… though not the whole truth.

She looked up. "I said it wasn't an accident. My family was_ murdered_!"

The other teen's eyes widened in surprise, as did the others who were present (except for the demon, which just looked on with amusement). "What did you mean by 'murdered', Gome? Do you know something?"

"Of course, I 'know something'. Why else would I claim that it was a murder?" She mentally rolled her eyes. _'Seriously, and I thought he was supposed to be genius!'_

The said genius continued, "But the reporter in the news clearly said that the police said it was an accident involving kitchen fire."

She snorted, "What do those idiots really know? All they know is that our house was ablaze by the time they arrived and that my family's corpses were found in the kitchen area, and then they immediately deduct that their deaths were caused by kitchen fire. And, they won't even believe me when I showed them all my observations, saying that the grief must've gotten into me and that I didn't want to believe that my family's gone because of an accident! It only shows that they need to go back to school."

"So, why do you think it was a murder?"

Images of what happened in the past few hours filled her head as she started to explain her hypothesis (though leaving out the whole truth, not that they would believe her if she told them): the thick grey smoke covering the sky above her blazing house; the four blackened things which used to be her grandfather, her mother, her brother, and her cat; the demonic aura within the fire, pointedly telling her it was the doing of a demon; the putrid smell of burnt flesh; the horror she felt at the inability to sense her family's auras (if they are alive, she would have sensed them); the anger she felt at the murderer; the self-loathing she felt for not being able to save them and for being part of the reason why they were attacked (no doubt the demon had tried to search for the Shikon jewel, which was ironically nothing more than an empty shell and a bad memory). But whatever the truth really was, there was no way that she was going to take their death as an accident.

Glaring at Raito, she stated out loud, "But whatever the scenario concerning the killer really was, there is no doubt in my mind that my family was murdered, no matter what the police said otherwise.

"What a feisty girl," chuckled the demon, who went even further away due to the rise of her energy from her anger.

The boy held up his hands in surrender and backed off a little, making her calm down in her amusement (not that she showed it, of course). "Okay, okay, calm down, Gome. I never said that I didn't believe you. But with all those observations, it's hard to believe that the police would just brush it aside as an accident."

"I told you," Kagome scowled, snorting at the memory of the other people's reactions when she told them that it was a murder and not an accident. "Those nincompoops thought that I was just thinking too much of it because I wanted someone to blame for their deaths that is not part of my family." Knowing that nothing could be done about it simply because it, she shrugged. "Oh well, it's not like they could actually find the murderer anyways."_ 'The reason being I already purified it before it left. I was just lucky that no one saw what I did and that it did not leave yet.'_

"One, they are too stupid and conceited to. Oh! But not Uncle Soichiro, of course! Just those lower-level police who thinks that they are all-so-smart because they are the police. And, two, they probably carelessly removed all the needed evidence to prove it was a murder, so it's useless to try and find the murderer." A sudden shyness overcame her as she looked at Sachiko. "So, um… anyways… could I stay here for a while until I can find somewhere else to live? I can even start searching for apartments right now!"

The woman laughed, "Of course, you could stay here, Kagome… for as long as you like! There's no need to find somewhere else to stay. After all, you are practically a part of our family."

"Yeah," Sayu grinned. "All that's left is to have you marry nii-san."

"Sayu!" the two teens exclaimed in embarrassment and astonishment. Kagome could already feel her ears getting really hot. The laughing demon was not helping in lessening that feeling in any ways. Without another word, they chased after the fleeing girl upstairs, right outside Sayu's room, where the door slammed right in front of their face.

Kagome pounded on the door hard while Raito (unsuccessfully) tried to open it via shaking the handle. On the other side, Sayu laughed, knowing that she was safe. "Raito and Kagome sitting under the tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First came love! Second came marriage! And third came a baby in a baby carriage!"

"When you get out of here, you are so going to pay for that!" shouted Kagome as she pounded harder on the door. "Just you wait, Sayu, just you wait!"

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**What do you think of my ****first**** chapter? Read and Review. I just love you reviewers.**

**Disclaimer: Any characters you recognize f****ro****m the ****Death Note**** Series**** and the Inuyasha Series**** aren't mines; they ****belong to their respective owners****. Only the plots, some OCs are mine. **Please ask for permission and getting it before taking my things.

PS There's a reason I said_**'etc'**_ people.

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_May fantasy guide your writing through it all - Dementra_


	2. The God of Night Looks On

_**Sun's Night**_

**Hi! Thanks for wanting to read this fanfic. I hope you like this story.**

**Yes, I changed the name from **_**Light to Your Darkness**_** to **_**Sun's Night**_

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_**Chapter 2 The God of Night Looks On**_

Ryuk grinned on in amusement as he noiselessly (not including a few chuckles that he could not go on for ten minutes without) observed Raito and the puzzling newcomer, Higurashi Kagome.

When she had first arrived, he thought nothing of her. After all, she was not attention-grabbing at all; probably just another one of Raito's many admirers (seriously, just how many does that human have). Therefore, he did not even bother to look at her. It was only until he felt the Death Note's aura that enveloped Raito ever since the teen touched it disappeared upon the hug that he _really_ looked at her.

She, judging by her family name, should be of Japanese origin. However, her appearance suggested that she has more than just Asian blood flowing within her veins. She has long wavy black hair… No. It was more like really dark blue than anything else. Her blue eyes are definitely something he has never seen on a pureblooded Asian before. Still, she was nothing special compared to some of the humans he has seen in the past (and he has lived for centuries).

One of the examples was the teen sitting next to him. Over the years, Ryuk has learnt about what humans commonly viewed as ugly, average, beautiful, and ethereal. Raito was no doubt in the fourth category. His reddish-brown hair was never ruffled, not even when he first gets out of bed in the morning. The teen's best feature, in his opinion, was the auburn eyes that turn red whenever he was Kira. It was as if he has the shinigami eyes, very interesting. He seemed to radiate confidence and light; his posture and aura demanded attention. Of course, he never knew about the Death Note's black aura that enveloped his own; Ryuk has never told him, nor would want to. (How else was he able to find Raito?)

However, with a simple touch, Kagome had sent that aura into oblivion—destroyed, not banished, not temporarily drove away, not tainted by, but destroyed. Not once in his life had he witnessed this phenomenon. In fact, he had never known that it was achievable.

Interest piped, he took a good look at her with his shinigami, especially the space above her head. What he found was anomalous at least the least. (Actually, that was the understatement of the century.) Not only did she have an atypically weak aura for a healthy-looking human her age, but she also did not possess a name or lifespan above her, another seemingly impossible thing. It seemed like that girl enjoyed breaking all laws concerning the supernatural, knowingly or unknowingly. Furthermore, she could clearly see him, or at least sense his presence; he knew that much if that hate-filled glare directed at him was anything to go by.

The shinigami chuckled gleefully, his already broad grin stretching even wider. He must be blessed by lady luck; it was either that or his well-deserved karma coming up. But, whatever it was, boy was he delighted that he had dropped the Death Note in the human world where and when he did and it got picked up by Raito. Things were really entertaining around that teen. Like what he had first thought

'_Humans are just so much fun!'_

Raito discretely stared at the jovial teen sitting beside him. It has been five long years since he has last heard from her; but those years has done her good. Gone were the cubby baby fat and the board-like flat chest. Now she has become a teenager whom others would consider beautiful, or at least above average (there was no way that anyone would think that she was anything less with her natural bluish hair and blue eyes). Her fair complexion was replaced by skin so tanned that it must have come from going out in the sun often. Of course, he was proud to say that he was now at least a head taller than she was. Back then, when they were still kids, she was the taller of the two, not by much, just an inch or two, but taller all the same.

But changed most about her was her eyes. They had pretty much grown up together. Throughout the years, her eyes had constantly portrayed childlike innocent, untouched by the 'evils' of the world that surround them. Raito was undeniably born a genius; therefore, the truth was always laid out before him, waiting for him to reach out his hands and grab them. What was an open door to him he had tried his best to shield it from her. He did not know why (and he still did not to the present day), but he had always been protective over Kagome, a bit more than his own blood-related sister, Sayu. Naturally, it has lessened as they grew slightly apart, but it was still there. However, now, he could clearly spot the spot the age-old wisdom she tried to hide within her eyes, the kind of wisdom someone can only get from experiencing the 'evils' of the world.

What had happened to her in the time that they were apart?

How she held her right arm was also odd. Whenever possible, she did not use it; however, when she does, it movements were stiff, as if she has injured her arm recently. Since she seemed really keen on not informing anyone, he would respect that not question her about it until they were alone. After all, they both knew his mother all too well. When it came to injuries, she could be very irritating in an over-protective manner.

Nevertheless, the main issue is not her possible physical wounds or the change in her eyes. The main issue is the way she can see Ryuk without touching any pieces of his Death Note. From what he has gathered, you can only see a shinigami if you touch the shinigami's former Death Note, and you could not see another shinigami just by touching one Death Note. Therefore, even if she has touched a Death Note, she still would not be able to see Ryuk. Raito knew that there are only two parts to his Death Note: the piece of Death Note paper hidden in a secret pocket of his wallet, and the rest of the notebook in his drawer where he has devised an undefeatable trap.

There was no telling whether or not Kagome would support Kira. When they were younger, he would have no doubts that even if she does not agree with him, she still would not betray him no matter what. The five years separation has done its job and indeed separated them. Now he was not sure if she would betray him or not. If she does choose to betray him, he would have no choice but to silence her forever, no matter how regretful the decision would be. After all, unlike the FBI agents, he cannot afford to keep her alive for too long, lest someone, namely L, finds out about Kira's real identity. Nevertheless, there are a lot of downsides to that. First of all, Kagome was not a criminal; secondly, she has just arrived, no one else important enough to give Raito and alibi knew about her. Therefore, killing her would send up gigantic warning signs against him in L's brain.

"Raito-kun, where's Uncle Soichiro?" Kagome's voice brought him out of his musings. "Is he on another case again?"

He nodded, "Yeah, this time he's leading the Kira investigation case." _'Or more like leading the case under L from what I've gathered.'_

She let out a gasp (of whether surprise or horror he did not know, but it was probably a mixture of both). "What!" she stood up and stared at him. "But judging by the way that people worldwide are suddenly dropping _dead _from cardiac failure…"

"It's 'heart attack', not 'cardiac failure'," corrected Raito.

"Kira _has_ to possess some sort of powers! Or at least the _help_ of something with powers to kill in that fashion," she added as an afterthought. "Uncle Soichiro is_ just_ a normal human without any ways or experience to combat against that sort of powers. He may as well sign his death wish!"

'_What is she saying? Is she implying that she knows how to stop Kira? If so, then she could be an even larger threat than L!'_ Raito asked slowly, in a manner than others would take as uncertainty. "Gome, are you trying to say that _you_ have the knowledge of how Kira kills and how to stop him?" That statement caught the other two females' undivided attention, and they, too, stared at her, anticipating her answer.

Kagome looked at him as he was an idiot (which he certainly was _not_). "Eh… hellooo, _shrine maiden_ here, remember genius? My grandfather, and probably my other ancestors, was a fanatic in things sort of things. I'm sure I'll be able to find out sooner or later after some research. Throughout my _whole_ childhood, I've been told stories about kappa, curses, shinigami…"

Her eyes widened ever so slightly. There was no doubt now she knew what Ryuk was judging by the way she briefly glanced at the said shinigami. Perhaps she really knew about Death Notes and shinigami. Before she dies, he would definitely get all the information away from her. He was positive that Ryuk has left out many useful points. Floating nearby, Ryuk chuckled again for the umpteenth time that night.

Not missing a beat, Kagome continued on as if nothing unusual happened (he had to applaud her for that). "…youko, yuki onna, seals, and many other supernatural things. Don't _you_ remember some of the stories? You've slept over many times in the past. And grandpa's always giving us strange gifts like a mummified kappa's hand."

Raito nodded. Yes, they have their share of bizarre gifts from that less than sane old man.

Sayu giggled, "Yeah! I've got a thousand year old fungi fossil for my birthday a few years back, but it looked more like a poo-shaped rock than anything else. And remember those sutras? He always stick them on other people while yelling 'Demon!' or 'Be gone you evil spirit!' or something like that." She giggled again. "It was really funny, especially when his victims sill have pieces of them in their hair because of the strong glue." Then she perked up, "Hey, nii-san, remember _that_ Halloween?"

"Oh, don't remind me of that…" The teen in question groaned, taking a bite out of the cucumber. It was not something that he wanted to think of… ever.

"You mean _that_ Halloween?" questioned Sachiko after she sipped some soup, "The one where Raito's costume was a little_ too_ perfect for grandpa's tastes?"

Swallowing a piece of chicken, Kagome laughed, glancing over at Raito, who decided to quietly eat is dinner and ignore that unwanted memory. "It sure made you regret asking me to give you those scroll, didn't it, Raito-kun? Seriously, what made you make a costume that followed that picture of the nekotama pretty much to the last detail anyways?"

"School's Halloween costume contest."

"Yeah, but you should've known better than to wear _that_ at my shrine! My grandpa practically absorbed everything in those scrolls. It's no wonder he slapped a few sutras on you." She chuckled again.

Dimly, he noticed that Ryuk was also laughing at his expense.

Groaning once more, Raito replied annoyed, "Yeah, those stupid pieces of paper would come out of my hair for _days_! _Day_, Gome! _Days_! Others could get it out after _one_ shower."

"Well… grandfather was…" Kagome coughed and made her voice a little scratchier and deeper. " 'just seeing what types of glue and ofuda works best against those pesky demons. Trust me; everyone will appreciate all my hard work someday.' "

The other teen snorted, "Like hell I would appreciate having my hair all ruffled up for _days_!"

"Seriously," chuckled Kagome. "Are you actually a girl or what? Wait." She paused. "_I'm _a girl, and _I'm_ not like that." Then her face brightened. Standing up, she flicked her hair back in an arrogant manner. "My name is Yagami Raito and I'm a narcissistic preppy female wearing a male's skin!" Kagome dodged Raito's attempt to cuff her in the head. The onlookers started to laugh at the spectacle.

Gracefully dancing away from his attacks, she continued, giggling. "Oh, I have to look perfect! If I'm not perfect, I'll _die _from shame! So, I spend hours upon hours fixing my perfect self. In fact, I wake up so early that the sun would not rise for hours to come. I wash my hair with only the best and most expensive shampoo and hair conditioner. Then I comb my hair with the best the best store can offer. After that, I'll rub in some really expensive lotion that I ordered from overseas. I finish my daily routine by ironing _every_ single piece of clothing I was to wear that day."

Raito glared at her. Just where had that little minx gotten those quick reflexes? He was certain that she did not process any the last time they met, or at least nothing like this; it was as if it was _effortless _to her. Seriously, just what happened in the time they were separated?

"But, on that fateful Halloween, my hair was…" Kagome gasped in mock horror. "…_ruffled_! For days! I thought that I was going to _die_ because I didn't look perfect enough. I can't believe that I actually survived that life or death situation. I really should be put into the world records as the person who has survived such a horrendous ordeal!"

"Raito, Kagome, just sit down and finish your dinner already," scolded Sachiko lightly with a smile on her face.

Not wanting to waste the opportunity to further tease the teenagers, Sayu spoke up, "Yeah, guys, do your flirting elsewhere."

"We are _not_ flirting!" yelled the two in sync, stopping in their tracks (Raito's hand was just about to land on Kagome's head).

"_Sure_ you're not."

"We're not!"

The youngest female in the room grinned, "Wow! You even say that exact same thing and the exact same time! Your brainwaves must be on the same wavelength."

'_If I really had the same brainwave as Gome, then I wouldn't be so worked up on the problem at hand!'_

"Sayu," sighed her mother, "stop teasing your brother and Kagome. And sit down you three." She sighed again, "Dinner will never be finished at this rate."

To Raito's occupied mind, time sped by too fast, way too fast for his liking (like how most people would feel when they are heavily focusing on something). Before he knew it, it was already late at night, bordering midnight; but he still has yet thought of the solution to his current biggest threat to his utopia-building plans—Higurashi Kagome. She was an unknown factor, one that can either lead to his defeat or his victory; that was why he needed to come up with a foolproof plan quickly to ensure that she would not ruin his triumph.

Alone in his room (Ryuk has long been gone, saying that he was going to find entertainment elsewhere, at least for the moment, and some juicy red apples), Raito lied on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his hands cradling his head. _'Damn it! No matter what, as long as Gome does not side with me, it would just be a matter of time before L finds complete proof that I am Kira and have me executed like a dirty, common criminal! Damn it! Those stupid cameras and bugs. If it weren't for them, I could've gotten at least some of my needed answers. Damn it!'_

A soft knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts. "Um… Raito-kun…" That voice; it was Kagome. "You're still awake, aren't you? I know that you usually stay awake for some time after you closed the lights… or at least, back then you did. So… um… may I come in?"

'_Hm… Should I let her in?'_

"Maybe he is asleep," he heard her mumble to herself.

'_But maybe it'll help me with my problem.'_

Quickly getting up, he went over to the light switch in a few strides, flipped it up, unlocked and opened his door just before Kagome, who was carrying her yellow bag, walked away.

Her face instantly lit up. "Raito-kun!" Without missing a beat, she took a quick and wary glance around the room before relaxing. That small movement was undetected by the camera because, conveniently, his back was blocking the view. If it had been recorded, it may be difficult to explain due to the obvious wariness within her eyes.

'_Probably wondering why Ryuk's not here. And, she's not wearing those girlish pajamas anymore,' _he observed, amused. Before, he could always expect her to wear cotton pajamas with kittens or other baby animals and the like all over it. But, now… he could not really call what she was wearing 'sleepwear'. She was wearing another turtleneck shirt, this time it was dark blue, and a pair of light purple sweatpants. He would have thought that she has either not yet taken a bath or was going outside if he did not know better.

Raito smirked, "Stop standing there like an idiot, Kagome, and come on in."

Snapping out of her stupor, she nodded and walked right in. Dropping her bag to the ground, she sat down on his chair. He locked the door again and took a seat on his bed. "So, what are you doing here this late? You're the one who used to be fast asleep by now."

Kagome laughed softly as to not wake the others up. "Let's just say I'm a rather light sleeper now. I can't go to sleep with the feeling of an unknown person watching me."

"Someone watching you?" he questioned, feigning puzzlement. Mentally, he was yelling his head off._ 'You idiot! You're going to let L know that you know about the cameras!'_ "What do you mean by that?"

She shivered slightly. "I-I don't know. It's just that…" Frustration crept onto her face as she tried to explain herself, gesturing with her hands. "You know, sometimes you just feel someone is watching you. You can't see them, but you just know it." Then her face lit up. "Ah! I've got it! It's like when you are walking down a quiet road at night and you just know that someone is stalking you, even tough every time you look behind you, you can't see the person. It's something like that." Kagome rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "But, then again, it may be my mind playing tricks on me since I know that my family' murderer is still out there somewhere. So… um… Raito-kun, could I sleep here tonight? Oh! You don't have to agree, of course! I understand perfectly that we aren't kid anymore and-!"

As the teen continued to ramble on, Raito discreetly breathed a sigh of relief. _'Good. That seems like a reasonable excuse.'_ Then he chuckled. _'And that aspect of her babbling is still the same as ever.'_ Nodding, the taller brunette replied, "Sure, Gome."

"…hours later… but I'm sure I-" She stopped. "Huh? Wait. Did you just agree, Raito-kun?"

"Yes, I did. Now stop rambling, you're going to wake them up."

Her ears turned red and a pink tint went across her face.

Without another word, Raito got up, walked over to his closet, pulled out two extra blankets and a pillow, and carefully laid them on the ground, next to his bed.

Curious of his actions, she questioned, "What are you doing, Raito-kun?"

"I'm going to sleep on the floor, so I'm setting up a makeshift bed."

Placing a hand on his shoulders, Kagome protested, "Oh, you don't need to give up the bed for me. I mean, it's _your_ bed, after all! And I really don't mind sleeping on the floor. You won't believe how many times I've slept without a bed in the past few years, so I'll be just fine!"

"Yes, but you're the guest. As a good host, I should give up my bed."

"But-!"

"No buts!"

"But-!"

"I said no buts!"

"Come on, Raito-kun, I can easily sleep on the ground; god knows how many times I've done so."

Straightening out the corners, he replied, "No and that's final. You should know who the more stubborn one between the two of us is."

"Me!" she chirped merrily.

"No, it's me. Now either you sleep on my bed or I'll kick you out. Weren't you the one asking me for refuge against your invisible stalker's eyes?"

Even without looking at her, he knew she was pouting with her arms crossed. He turned around. Yep. She really was pouting; but she was only doing half of her arm-crossing (she did not use her right arm).

"Fine." She quickly reached into her bag and brought out a few bags of leaves, a small bowl, a flat stone, and a roll of gauze. "But before we go to bed, could you help me with something, Raito-kun?"

"Okay." Raito looked at the things in bewilderment. _'What does she plan to do with all those things?'_

"Promise to not overreact?"

"Er… okay…"

Gingerly, she began to take off her shirt. Dimly, his astonished mind noticed that she was rather mindful of her right arm. Then he let out a gasp when the sight before him finally registered in his mind. Underneath that shirt there was a black sports bra that covered her chest and white gauze wrapped around her right arm all the way up to her shoulders. However, what surprised him the most was not the bandage; it was the flesh now exposed to the air. Decorating her skin was numerous scars—some straight, some jagged, some relatively small as if it was once a stab wound, some indescribable. The worst of them all was by her hips; it was as if a beast had tried to take a chuck out of her. Also, judging by the way some of them disappeared under the waistline, there are some more under her pants.

"What happened to you?" he whispered horrified, not really trusting his voice. _'I'm going to find the bastard to did this to her and kill him! …or her…'_ He added as an afterthought. Raito was already coming up with different methods of how he/she would die, each more painful and gruesome than the former.

Kagome smiled, "I knew coming to you would be good. Aunt Sachiko and Sayu would be headless chickens by now."

"What happened to you?" he repeated.

"Do you mean the scars or the bandage?"

"Both."

She gently traced a few of her scars. "Let's just say… I've discovered that I'm a real trouble-magnet." Then she started to remove the gauze, revealing red burns all around her right arm. They were not very serious; probably jut a first degree burn or a near second degree burn. "When I found out that my family was still in the house, I rushed there, not caring of the danger. A fireman pulled me out, but not before the flames got my sleeves. So, my arm got burnt. That's one of the reasons why I came here actually. I can't bandage it properly with only one hand." Without another word, she dumped a few leaves from most of the bags into the bowl and started to grind them using the stone.

Raito's interest perked up. "What are you doing, Gome?"

She looked at him with a secretive smile. "You'll see."

For the next fifteen minutes or so, they were in a comfortable silence: one expertly grinding the leaves (or as capably as she can with one hand), and the other one watching on curiously, helping out from time to time when she really needs it. Soon, the leaves in the bowl were nothing more than fine green pulp.

Kagome took out a few bigger leaves. "Raito-kun, could you please help me spread the pulp on these?"

Nodding, he did ask she asked. It took another five minutes before he finally found out what they were for. Without any hesitations whatsoever, she slapped one of the leaves on her wounds, not wincing at all.

Shocked, the other teen exclaimed, "What are you doing?! "

Slapping on another leaf, Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be the _omniscient prodigy_? What am I doing? I'm applying some herbs to my wounds of course."

"But, there're many bacteria in the leaves! Do you want to get infected or something?!"

"A long, long time ago, when people did not have those nifty chemicals, they used different ways to prevents infection and speed up healing: one of the ways is by using the right herbs. Trust me, my wounds would not get infected; and in the slim chance that they do, I'll just grab some maggots to eat off the dead skin."

Raito looked at her as if she just announced that she was actually a shinigami in disguise. _'What the hell had happened to her in those five years? Sure, I've heard that things can change drastically within a short periods of time. I mean, I've found out about the existence of shinigami, a notebook that kills, and cleansed off a lot of criminals in this rotting world in the span of barely one week. Then I've got tricked by L, known worldwide as 'Kira', killed a group of FBI, and lots more. And the month's hardly ending yet. Still, Gome is almost like a stranger now with her ability to see Ryuk, all those scars, and this weird style of taking care of injuries. She used to be such a crybaby, crying from a small paper cut. And those scars…"_

His eyes narrowed. _"She's always been clumsy, but there's no way that being clumsy would get her scars like that! Their shape suggests something sharp and fast, like a blade of some sorts. Some of them seems like stab wounds, so they can't be from self-abuse. Maybe getting a few because of being mugged _and_ coming out alive is reasonable enough. But to have so many and all over her body… If she received that all at once, she should be dead. So, the only option left is her being abused… but by whom? She's not on the news as an abuse victim, so I'll have to assume that she's too afraid to tell someone. And I can't ask her family because they're dead…"_

Auburn eyes widened upon realization. _"What if it was her _family_ who's abusing her? That'll explain why no one had had notified the police. I mean, there's no way that her family wouldn't have noticed those wounds. But, the Aunt Kun-Loon, grandfather, and Souta I knew would _never_ do something like that to her, to_ anyone_ really! But what if they were _all_ being threatened by someone…"_ Raito glanced at Kagome, who was carefully making sure that the leaves won't fall off her arm. _"What if that person was the murderer? Then that'll explain why she's so certain that her family was murdered."_

"Raito-kun?"

Shaking out of his thoughts, the brunette answered, "Yes?"

"Could you help me steady the leaves so they won't fall off once I start bandaging?"

"Sure." He got up from the bed, walked over to her side, and held the leaves in place, being extremely mindful not to press too hard. "Kagome?"

"Uh huh?"

Raito took a breath and asked, "How did you get those scars? Was someone abusing you? Was it the murderer? And don't say that 'I've discovered that I'm a real trouble-magnet'. I want the truth right now." The cameras and bugs are going to be of use right now. He was almost certain that his father was watching the recordings he would not allow a stranger to spy on his family alone. But, even if his father was not watching the proceedings, someone on the side of law is. Even if he cannot find the bastard on his own, he was sure that the police would be able to find more clues. Sooner or later, Kira would find him and deliver him his just desserts.

Wrapping the gauze, Kagome laughed sheepishly. "Actually, the truth is that I've been running to trouble ever since my fifteenth birthday. You won't _believe_ what I've ran into, neither would I if I were you." At his incredulous look, she added, "Really, Raito-kun. I have not been abused despite what my body suggests. Come on, have you ever heard of abuse victims who could be so lively and 'touchable', for the lack of better words, a short while after being abused? Trust me; despite what my friends got in their minds, I _do not_ have an abusive, two-timing boyfriend." She adopted an annoyed look. "Hell! I don't even _have_ a boyfriend! Oh, and thanks for helping me." It seemed that she has already finished bandaging her wounds. "Let's go to sleep now!" she chirped, putting her shirt back on.

He glared at her, or where her wounds were to be precise. "We _will_ talk about how stupid you were to rush into a burning building and how you _really_ got your scars."

"I really told you the truth!"

Switching off the lights and climbing into his makeshift bed, Raito nodded in agreement. "Yes, I believe that you told me the truth. But I also know that you have omitted nearly all of the truth."

Kagome attempted to cross her arms, but failed when pain shot down her wounded one. Not discouraged, she huffed, "Raito-kun, I have seen death but not the god. Many things I sense, I put in pocket. Searching through my drawer, I came across death. Where lies the truth, it will be tomorrow. The future is revealed, past cannot be done. Are you willing to send the future to the past and the past to the future?"

It was one of their secret ways of speech they (though mostly himself) have created in their childhood. Everyone else will think nothing much on it. To them, the two were just speaking is a very weird way, no aware of the hidden message carefully woven within the words. Nevertheless, even is someone was to try, they would never get the whole message due to the fact that they would change the way they put the real message if the conversation was long.

Quickly, his mind processed what Kagome just said. _'Smart, knowing that there are cameras here. Let's see… Raito-kun, so it's four. Death… god… sense… pocket… drawer… death… truth… tomorrow… revealed… done. Wait!'_ His eyes widened. _'She knows that Ryuk is a shinigami, and she could also sense the Death Note in my pocket and drawer. Just what is she? What kind of powers does she have? And tomorrow. She wants the truth tomorrow. Well, I guess it's okay, since tomorrow is Sunday. I could always say that I'm taking her out on a tour because she hasn't been here for five years. And she better reveal her truths as well. And let's see… she's using the future and the past this time…'_

Forming the right words in his mind, he replied, "Gome, past is not tomorrow nor is future okay. Revolves is the sun not of the day. The stars give tour is but a five throughout the long years. Galaxy holds the truth to what that you will not ever reveal. Nothing yet has ended. So embrace the road, the past shapes the present into the future."

A minute so or later, Kagome chuckled, "Embrace the road not stray off, troubles by as fun goes. Nay, embrace not the road; love the hidden trails, the winding cracks. Stars not shine; moon not revealed; sun not penetrates."

'_Hm… No names? So, the message is done.'_ They had always made sure to drag the weird way of talking for a little longer to further send the others off track.

"Say you wish. Light reveals."

Yawning, she snuggled into the covers as much as her arm would allow and replied, "Darkness prevails."

"Night, Kagome."

"Night, Raito."

Elsewhere, in the certain room of a certain hotel, the world's greatest detective stared at the screens, completely baffled by the two teenagers' bizarre conversation. Clicking a button, he replayed the scene, nibbling on his thumb.

"_Wait a minute! If we sleep together on the same bed, chances are high that your injured arm will bump into something. You stay on the bed and_ I'll_ take the floor. No 'buts', Gome. I've noticed how you favored your arm ever since you arrived at the door, so you can't tell me that it doesn't hurt. And we_ will _talk about how stupid you were to rush into a burning building and how you_ really _got your scars."_

"_I really told you the truth!"_

"_Yes, I believe that you told me the truth. But I also know that you have omitted nearly all of the truth."_

"_Raito-kun, I have seen death but not the god. Many things I sense, I put in pocket. Searching through my drawer, I came across death. Where lies the truth, it will be tomorrow. The future is revealed, past cannot be done. Are you willing to send the future to the past and the past to the future?"_

"_Gome, past is not tomorrow nor is future okay. Revolves is the sun not of the day. The stars give tour is but a five throughout the long years. Galaxy holds the truth to what that you will not ever reveal. Nothing yet has ended. So embrace the road, the past shapes the present into the future."_

"_Embrace the road not stray off, troubles by as fun goes. Nay, embrace not the road; love the hidden trails, the winding cracks. Stars not shine; moon not revealed; sun not penetrates." _

"_Say you wish. Light reveals."_

"_Darkness prevails."_

"_Night, Kagome."_

"_Night, Raito."_

Licking the ice cream, L frowned. There was something in that conversation that bugged him, besides the fact that they had suddenly changed their ways of speech. It was as if there was something very important hidden within those lines, something that he could not figure out; it bothered him.

"_Raito-kun, I have seen death but not the god. Many things I sense, I put in pocket. Searching through my drawer, I came across death. Where lies the truth, it will be tomorrow. The future is revealed, past cannot be done. Are you willing to send the future to the past and the past to the future?"_

"_Gome, past is not tomorrow nor is future okay. Revolves is the sun not of the day. The stars give tour is but a five throughout the long years. Galaxy holds the truth to what that you will not ever reveal. Nothing yet has ended. So embrace the road, the past shapes the present into the future."_

"_Embrace the road not stray off, troubles by as fun goes. Nay, embrace not the road; love the hidden trails, the winding cracks. Stars not shine; moon not revealed; sun not penetrates." _

"_Say you wish. Light reveals."_

"_Darkness prevails."_

"_Night, Kagome."_

"_Night, Raito."_

No. This was not it. His instincts was screaming that the real message could not be that long; and if there was anything that he trusted the most in this world, it will definitely e his instincts from many years of toning. He shortened the footage again.

"_Raito-kun, I have seen death but not the god. Many things I sense, I put in pocket. Searching through my drawer, I came across death. Where lies the truth, it will be tomorrow. The future is revealed, past cannot be done. Are you willing to send the future to the past and the past to the future?"_

"_Gome, past is not tomorrow nor is future okay. Revolves is the sun not of the day. The stars give tour is but a five throughout the long years. Galaxy holds the truth to what that you will not ever reveal. Nothing yet has ended. So embrace the road, the past shapes the present into the future."_

"_Embrace the road not stray off, troubles by as fun goes. Nay, embrace not the road; love the hidden trails, the winding cracks. Stars not shine; moon not revealed; sun not penetrates." _

Yes, the real message was within those lines, but how can he get it? What is the formula that this code has? He had cracked many codes other people considered impossible before, and this one would be no different. The only thing he needed was time.

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**What do you think of my ****second**** chapter? Read and Review. I just love you reviewers.**

**Disclaimer: Any characters you recognize f****ro****m the ****Death Note**** Series**** and the Inuyasha Series**** aren't mines; they ****belong to their respective owners****. Only the plots, some OCs are mine. **Please ask for permission and getting it before taking my things.

PS There's a reason I said_**'etc'**_ people.

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_May fantasy guide your writing through it all - Dementra_


	3. Dawn is Arriving

_**Sun's Night**_

**Hi! Thanks for wanting to read this fanfic. I hope you like this story. **

**Yes, I changed the name from _Light __to __Your __Darkness_ to _Sun__'__s __Night_**

**Sorry for the wait, minna. My original Chapter 3 wouldn't open, so I had to rewrite it from scratch. And then, along the way, the plot bunnies disappeared on me. Anyways, here it is, the next chapter of "Sun's Night".**

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**Chapter 3 Dawn is Arriving**

Feeling the presence of death, Kagome instinctively spread out more of her powers in the form of faint ripples, enough for her to consciously examine her surroundings but not enough for others to detect. She has long learnt that it was a lot safer to pretend to be caught off guard; it makes the enemy cocky, and therefore, unprepared for the incoming danger.

'_There__'__s __a __demon __in __here, __one __that __reeks __of __death. __And__… __Wait. __Is __that... __Raito-kun?__What __is __he __doing __in __my __room?__'_ Just then all of the memories of the previous day came rushing back to her. Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes, but she held them back. _'__No. __Don__'__t __cry. __They __wouldn__'__t __want __you __to __keep __mourning __them, __Kagome. __Don__'__t __cry. __Remember __your __promise?__'_ Knowing that she was not about to get attacked, she yawned and stretched her body. Since living in the feudal era, she was never really comfortable in staying in bed after waking up (unless being seriously injured or ill).

"Hyuk. Hyuk. Hyuk."

Looking up and seeing Ryuk's amused grin, annoyance filled her. She made a move to retort back, only to close her mouth as the memories of Raito telling her about the hidden cameras came to mind. Kagome looked at the peacefully sleeping teen on the floor beside her. Kneeling down, she gently brushed away a few of his bangs, as well as eliminating the dark aura that surrounded him once more. _'__Really, __just __what __did __you __get __yourself __into, __Raito-kun?__If __it __were __just __youkai, __I __wouldn__'__t __be __as __worried. __But __shinigami?__'_ She looked at him sadly._ '__I __may __not __be __able __to __save __you __from __whatever __trouble __you__'__re __in __right __now, __at __least, __not __forever.__'_

Walking over to her bag, she took out some fresh bandages and a new set of clothes, well, a set of partially worn clothes to be exact, from her adventures in the feudal era. There was a hole at the right legging of her jeans right above the knees while the left legging was already showing signs of nearly being torn. The left sleeve of her shirt has been ripped off during a skirmish as did a part of the hem, enough to reveal her belly button. However, she did try to fix them the best she could by sewing up the loose strands. It was not exactly what the modern era would consider "fashionable" (in fact, they may think of her as a delinquent), but at least, she could say that her shirt was unique. Besides, time in the feudal era taught her to never take anything for granted and to use everything to the fullest until it truly is beyond repair (not including living beings of course — not that Naraku would've agreed).

Carefully, she stepped over Raito and walked out the door to the bathroom. By the time she was done (which wasn't long at all), dawn has long arrived.

Humming softly, she made her way down to the kitchen. The least she could do for their hospitality is help around the house and breakfast was the best thing to start with.

About ten minutes later, just as she poured some more batter into the frying pan, steady and quiet footsteps sounded from the stairs. Turning around, she saw the current object of her worries and the laughing shinigami. "Ohayou, Raito-kun." As always, unlike herself, he was dressed very neatly and nicely, looking every bit like the stereotypical noble.

"Ohayou, Gome," the other teen greeted back. "Making breakfast?"

Nodding, she gave her attention back to the food. "I'm making pancakes right now. Could you get the syrup out and perhaps some drinks? Oh!" She looked at him. "And set the table too, would you?"

He smiled. "Of course."

For the next fifteen minutes or so, they both worked comfortably in silence, until two sets of footsteps once again sounded from the stairways — one loud and quick, the other slow and steady.

"Hm... Something smells good~!" Sayu commented delightfully as she skipped down the stairs, followed by her mother.

"Gome's making pancakes," Raito explained from where he sat.

Sachiko smiled, "Oh, you didn't have to."

"But I wanted to," the chef in question replied. She put down a large stack of freshly made pancake in the middle of the table. "Dig in!" she smiled as she took the seat next to Raito.

After finishing breakfast, Raito announced, "I'm planning to take Gome out today. After all, she hasn't been here for the past five years, and things have changed since then."

His mother nodded in agreement. "That's fine with me. You've done all your work, right?"

"Of course!" he said indignantly, offended that she would even hold any doubt about that matter.

"Eh! I want to go too!" Sayu exclaimed, looking to and from her present family members.

"You can't, Sayu. You have lessons at ten and you're also going out with your friends this afternoon, remember?" her brother reminded.

Sulking, the girl drank the rest of her orange juice silently.

Kagome stared at the scene, smiling nostalgically. Instead of the Yagami family, she was picturing her own family, both of them. She, Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku would have taken the place of Raito — the older sibling who takes care of the younger one and teases them. Souta, Rin and Shippou would be Sayu while she (to Shippou at least) and her mother would have been in Aunt Sachiko's place. _'__I __miss __them... __I __miss __them __so __much...__'_

A hand waved in front of her face, bringing her out of her stupor. "Kagome, are you alright?" Raito asked concerned. "You're zoning out."

She nodded. "I'm fine." Getting up, she gathered the dishes. "So, what the plan today, Mr. Tourist Guide?" she asked, wanting to change the subject.

About half an hour later, they were off. Noticing the aura of death slowly creeping onto Raito from his pocket, she walked closer to him, hoping that her holy aura would quell it without completely eliminating it. After all, she did not know whether destroying it would bring repercussions on him. She whispered, "When are we going to talk about your involvement with Ryuk?"

The brunette noticeably (to her keen eyes) tensed up for a few seconds before relaxing again. "Do you remember the park we used to go to when we're kids? It has a small water park now. Do you want to check it out later?"

"That's fine with me," she replied with a smile, not wanting to push the topic on him yet. "It's probably going to get really hot in the afternoon. This _is_ summer, after all."

Raito scowled mentally as they continued to walk on comfortably in silence (though it was as clear as day to both of them that there was an undying tension between them). He still has not yet come up with a foolproof plan to deal with this new problem called Higurashi Kagome.

It was a lot easier dealing with L and the police force. After all, it was obvious which side they were on. And he wouldn't worry about his mother or Sayu either. They respect his privacy and wouldn't go snooping around his room (unlike his _dear_ father), and thus wouldn't come in contact with the Death Note.

If he knew Kagome (and he did, unless she had a 180 degree change in the last five years), she would not stand for Kira's actions. She hated needless killing (except when it comes to insects and bugs that came within her personal space). The only way to pacify her was to prove that Kira's action were in fact _not_ needless. _'__Now... __How __should __I __do __that?__Clear __logic, __such __as __killing __criminals __to __cleanse __the __world, __would _not _work __on __her. __Which __is __sad, __really,__'_ he added as an afterthought.

From the corner of his eyes, Raito noticed Kagome wincing in pain as someone brushed against her right arm. Without another thought, he quickly switched places with her. "Is your arm alright?" he asked. "Do you need any painkillers?" If he had remembered correctly (which he should have), there was a pharmacy nearby.

She shook her head. "No, thank you. The herbs are doing fine. Besides," she smiled at him teasingly, "don't you know the term 'drug interaction'? I thought you were the smart one."

Ignoring the jab at his ego, he asked, "Yeah, about those herbs of yours... What do they do? And where did you learn about them? From what I remember, your family didn't grow herbs."

Kagome smiled, her eyes looking beyond what was in front of them. "During the five years we were apart, I met Kaede-baa-san, a miko, and Miroku-kun, a monk. They were the one who taught me nearly everything I needed to know about herbs."

His sharp mind immediately focused on two words. '_Nearly __everything?__'_ He voiced his question out loud.

"I've learnt from other people too, but Kaede-baa-san and Miroku-kun taught me the most. So," sapphire met auburn "how's your life in the past five years? Are your marks still as high as ever? Do you have a girlfriend yet? Or is it a boyfriend?"

"W-wha-what!" Raito spluttered in surprise. He quickly regained is composure a few seconds later. "What makes you think I bat for the home team?"

She grinned teasingly before sporting a face of innocence. "Oh? I seem to remember you screaming 'Harder! Harder! Harder! Fuck! Yes! Harder!' last night. Ra. I. To. Kun." A gap between his face and hers closed slightly with every syllable of his name, before she quickly jumped apart with a smile and continued on the road as if nothing was wrong.

His jaw slackened as his mind immediately went overdrive in trying to remember last night's events. If it was true, not only did Kagome witness something really embarrassing, it would have been recorded on camera as well. "I did not!" Raito retorted back a few seconds later, quickly catching up to the girl. "I did not!" he repeated, staring seriously into her eyes. "I am one hundred percent certain that I have never dreamt of or thought of having sexual intercourse with _anybody_ be it male or female. There are other things that take priority." _'__Such __as __getting __rid __the __world __of __criminals or __outwitting __L__ and __his __cronies.__'_

There was a moment silence before Kagome burst into laughter, causing the bystanders to glance at them curiously. "You sound like a prude," she explained in-between her chuckles as she began to calm down a few minutes later.

Ego attacked, he stood up straighter, and resumed their walk to the park. "I am not," he explained proudly. "I am _merely_ invested my interests and attention in things that are far more superior than the notion of having sexual intercourse for any reasons other than to produce offspring. Also, you are mistaken about my dreams from last night," he stated, having calmed down from his surprise, and back into familiar grounds. "Last night, I had dreamt of the perfect world, a dream where the words you have claimed to hear escape my mouth would not have been present. Perhaps, _you_ were the one having a dream about hearing me in the middle of a dream about having sexual intercourse. You have a rather dirty mind, Ka. Go. Me," he teased.

Unfazed by his accusation, she merely smiled and replied, "Perhaps I do. I have a perverted friend who loves nothing more than grope females and ask them to bear his child. Of course, he got relatively tamed by a female friend of mine at the end. They're married and already have a set of twins — one boy, one girl. And then, there's another guy who loves playing with tentacles. He's sadistic, always playing mind games." '_Hm... __I __wonder __if __Naraku __gets __off __by __doing __those __things...__'_

Laughter and chatter of joyous children reached their ears and they neared their destination.

"And there's another guy who loves males and blood. Rather the kinky one. He's got a crush on one of my other male friends." '_It __was __really __funny __seeing __how __Inuyasha __reacted __to __Jakotsu.__' _"My, my, my, is perverseness contagious?" she asked, mock apprehensively. "Perhaps I should be worried about infecting you with it."

Raito said nothing, though he did back away from her a bit, making her chuckle.

As soon as they reached a relatively secluded part of the park, Kagome rounded on Raito, placed her hands on her hips, and demanded, "Well, what's the story?"

With a sigh, Raito proceeded to inform his childhood friend all about the Death note, how he came in possession of it, and what he did with it. Naturally, he had made sure to put himself and his actions in a good light. He said passionately, "With this, we can cleanse the world of those good-for-nothing savages. No one would have to mourn for the loss of their loved ones," he added, playing on her empathy regarding the recent development of her family. "No more wars, Gome. No more sorrow. No more hatred. With the Death note, we can build a utopia!"

Kagome just looked at him sadly. Yes, his intentions were noble. But... "I can't agree with it, Raito-kun," she replied softly, her eyes staring straight into his surprised ones. "How different are you from the people who you were purging the world of? No one is perfect, not even you... not even me. Everyone has a bad side. If you wish to eliminate all the bad people in the world, you'll have to kill _everyone_." Her eyes adopted a faraway look. "I have killed too, Raito-kun." His breath hitched in shock. "Unlike you, I didn't kill anyone through a Death Note or in any indirect means." She stared at her hands, seeing the red that never leaves. "My hands are tainted with blood, real blood. Every part of my body has come into contact with another's blood at some point. I never wanted that to happen, but it was unavoidable. It was to kill or witness my friends or an innocent person being killed or be killed." Her eyes met his again. "Even so, no matter what good intentions I had back then, I can't excuse the fact that I am a murderer. Knowing this, Raito-kun, will you also write my name into the Death Note?"

Raito paid no heed to Ryuk's laughter in the background. The words "I am a murderer" resonated in his head. His left hand twitched, pressing up against the pocket where his wallet containing a piece of his Death Note laid.

Kagome waited patiently as the other teen, hands quaking, took out his wallet, the one containing the dark aura she has been sensing. Truthfully, she would not mind dying by his hands. She would be disappointed with his decision, yes, but she would not mind. Dying was just a part of life. And her family from sengoku jidai and her biological family were all dead. Perhaps she would be able to see them again.

However, his hands stopped short as he attempted to take out the piece of Death Note. Raito glared down at them. Why weren't they moving? Why wasn't his body listening to him? A hand suddenly laid upon his frozen ones. Startled, he looked up to meet Kagome's calm gaze.

"If you can't kill me now, you can always kill me later." She smiled softly. "After all, you have the Death note, you have my name, and you know how I look like."

"Why?" Raito asked, bewildered for once in his life. "Why are you so calm, Gome? You know that it'll only take a few stroke of my pen to take you life."

Spreading out her arms, Kagome twirled around and giggled. "I do not fear death, Raito-kun. Death is merely a part of life. I have made many precious friends. I have gone through hell and back with them, though many had passed away in the process. And even if they didn't die then, quite a few are dead now. My family has been taken away from me. If you kill me, I wouldn't mind that much." She laughed. "I mean, all of my close friends had attempted to kill me at some point. Perhaps you would be the one to succeed." _'__I __have __a __strong __feeling __that __if __I __die __some __time __in __the __near __future, __Raito-kun __would __somehow __be __involved.__'_

Catching onto that, Raito questioned, "What do you mean by that? Why would they want to kill you?"

Instead of answering, the teen looked around their surrounding. Then she dragged her childhood friend over to the nearest tree and plopped down onto the grass. Patting the ground next to her, she said, "I haven't told you my story yet, have I? Take a seat, Raito-kun. This is going to be a long tale." When he did as requested, the storytelling began.

Kagome told him everything — from the moment of her fifteenth birthday to the present. She told him about the well and her trip to five hundred years in the past. She told him about mistress centipede and her role in gorging out the Shikon no Tama out of her side. She told him about her dear friends — about Inuyasha and her crush which eventually dwindled down to sibling love, about her dear little Shippo and his many tricks, about Miroku and his perverted tendencies, about Sango and Kirara and their bond, about Kouga and his possessiveness over her, about Ayame and her eventual mating with Kouga, about Sesshoumaru and his icy heart which had been melted by dear sweet Rin, and many more. She told him about living with only half a soul for years until Kikyou perished in a battle against Naraku. She told him about Onigumo and his lust for Kikyou. She told him about Naraku, his incarnations, and his many schemes which brought heartache and suffering to everything he neared. She told him about some of her abilities and skills she had gained throughout the many battles. She told him about the murders she had committed, both humans and demons. She told him about the Shikon no Tama, how it had been shattered by her arrow and was repaired and tainted by Naraku, and how she had gotten it back and made a wish upon it. She told him about how it vanished after that and how she had found herself back in the present, unable to return to the Feudal Era again. And she had tried. She really had. She nearly broke her legs trying to jump into the well over and over again.

All the while, Raito sat there silently, staring at her calculatingly, as Ryuk laughed in the background.

This was getting really interesting! He really should drop the Death Note more often.

_Humans __are __just __so __much __fun!_

Raito did not really know what to think. On one hand, it didn't seem as though her powers or skills can help him much. On the other hand, she can be more of a threat than he had first thought.

"I will not betray you, Raito-kun," she said. "As in, I will not be the first one to reveal any part of the truth. You are my best friend, and I don't want to see you being put behind bars, or worse, get a death sentence. But I can't promise that I wouldn't use all that I have to stop you from spiralling further downwards, to hinder your goals. So if any part of the truth had been exposed by or to anyone not on your side, I would do my best to use said discoveries against you. Deal?" she asked, holding out her hand.

'_It__'__s __better __than __nothing, __I __suppose. __And __now, __I __know __where __she __stands __in __my __plans.__' _He nodded and took her offered hand. "Deal. I will not let anyone or anything stand in my way, so I can't promise that I won't eventually write your name down into the Death Note if my plans are dangerously threaten by you. Deal?"

Kagome shook their clasped hands. "Deal." And then they let go, both with glints of determination in their eyes.

A few seconds later, Raito let it drop and smiled. "Come on, I believe I promised you a tour," he said, gently pulling her along.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

It has been two days since the girl, Higurashi Kagome, entered the picture, and he still hasn't been able to figure out that code the teens were using. He had even consulted Yagami-san about that. According to the policeman, Raito-kun and Kagome-kun had always been peculiar as a child, especially when they were together.

When Raito was younger, he had a hard time socializing with his peers due to his higher intellect. He fared better and was more comfortable with adults. That had always worried his parents, no matter how much they were proud of him. In their opinion, one of their best decisions to date was taking Higurashi Ryuu's advice. They brought Raito over to the Higurashi Shrine to meet Kagome, who, as they were told, was a very bold and happy child. She was very imaginative and saw many things (such as a fox tail and ears on a boy), and that lead to the bullying from other children.

Both set of parents hoped that Kagome would be able to bring Raito out of his shell and that he would bring her back to reality a bit.

At the beginning, Raito could care less about the girl, but Kagome, being the stubborn child that she was, persevered. She followed him everywhere (even waiting outside of the washroom door), chattering about everything and nothing. Eventually, her hard work paid off and gained herself Raito as a friend. Kagome's strange sightings of extra appendages and other creatures also died down.

Soon after that, their strange conversations started. From time to time, they would sprout of a random collection of words and sentences. They had no idea what the children were talking about, but Raito and Kagome seemed to understand each other perfectly and was happy with each other. So, they let it be and never bothered to ask about their special code.

L was not satisfied with Soichiro's answer but said nothing of it to the older man opting to quell his frustrations by eating another strawberry cheesecake and drinking coffee-soaked sugar.

Later on at their group meeting, L allowed the team to remove all of the cameras and microphones from the two families' house, seeing that there were no suspicious activities based on the tapes (beside the infuriating code the younger Yagami and Higurashi used — every time he thought he had solved it, the code would suddenly change).

As the team went on to do their own work, L stayed on the chair, unblinkingly, as his mind whirled with thoughts. As seen from the video feeds, everyone in those two households acted naturally during the times the criminals were killed, giving the conclusion that none of the were Kira. However, what if Kira had a godlike willpower? He, or she, would be able to sta completely emotionless even as he or she killed.

Or maybe those were really judgements from a god. No. That can't be. What about the FBI? There was no way that all of them would anger the god all at once. Moreover, this 'god' required the name and the face of a person to kill. That sounded more like a joke than anything. No. This wasn't 'god's judgement'. It was only a childish person playing god. In other words, Kira must be a human.

'_I _must _catch __him!__'_

If Kira was somebody Ray Penber had investigated before December 19, then he must be in either the Yagami or Satamura family. It could not have been Kagome Higurashi though. He had check through her records. Despite her odd illnesses she had seemingly caught during middle school and high school (not only were they ridiculous, some were fatal, or near fatal, and some did not even exist; in addition, she did not even get a doctor's note or anything — this could was worth looking into; perhaps those illnesses were the cover-ups for whatever she was doing to get those scars), Higurashi had not been in the Kanto region during the broadcast and her family shrine was in Tokyo.

Still, even if they kept them under surveillance, Kira would never reveal himself to them. What should he do? The best way was to get Kira to confess as he killed, which should be doable...

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

All of the cameras were gone (though the microphones might still be around). Just as expected, they no longer thought of him as a suspect. And, Kagome was true to her words; she did not even hint about the existence of Ryuk or Death Notes anywhere near their house. Whenever they talked about Kira (with him trying to convince her and her trying to get him to stop), they had used their childhood codes. They had also talked in codes for other random things and made up new codes, just to get their observers off their track. He knew that the codes he made up as a child most likely wouldn't stand up to L's intelligence, especially since he could re-watch and analyze their conversations over and over again. The only thing he could do was to confuse him.

Speaking of L, the world's greatest detective was most likely still trying to find Kira. Since L is more probably still directing the Japanese police, he must be directing his father as well. Was his father aware of the surveillance placed on the household? Or did L do that without permission? If his father allowed it, then the tension between L and the police had ceased. Also, L and his father had most likely developed a sense of trust for each other since then.

In that case, he could probably use his father to kill L. And with L dead, he, Kira, was one step closer to becoming the supreme God of the new world, untainted by criminals and crime, the ultimate utopia.

"Raito-kun!" a very familiar voice said, slamming his door opened. "Do you know where-?" She paused. "Raito-kun," Kagome said slowly. "What is going on here?" She gestured towards Ryuk, who was happily biting into an apple. Weren't they supposed to keep the existence of shinigami and Death Notes hidden? So why was Ryuk eating an apple in the house? That was like a huge sign saying 'Something abnormal is going on here, most likely it's Kira. Feel free to check it out, L.' If Raito-kun no baka was going to do that, then what's the point of them trying to keep things hidden over the past few days?

"I'm studying," he said, arching an eyebrow. "What do you think I'm doing?" Raito then pointed at his eyes and shut them. Then he gestured at his ears and shrugged.

"Oh..." The cameras are gone but the microphones might still be around. "Heh heh, silly me. _Of__course_, you're studying. What _else_ could you be doing, you workaholic?"

"Shouldn't you be studying as well, Gome? You _are_ going to go for the exams, right?"

Kagome laughed sheepishly. "I probably won't get in anyways, not with my grades. So, er, I'll leave you to your studies. Ja ne!" She made a move to dash out of the room (She _hated_ studying! Kami knew why her best friend didn't) but was hindered by Raito, who grabbed her arm.

"I'll tutor you then. It'd be like studying for me as well."

"Come on! Hanashite!" she protested, trying to break out of his surprisingly strong grip without hurting him. "Raito-kun~!"

"Nope. You're studying and you're going to get into To-oh."

"Mou, Raito-kun!"

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"Begin!" the examiner said, looking at his watch.

Kagome immediately picked up her pen and flipped over her exam. Upon seeing the first page, she groaned. Math. Of all the things to start the exam with, why math? Hm... Let's see... Question number one, what is the equation of the inverse function of the following graph? She groaned again. Why did they have to put something so hard as the first question? She was going to fail this. She just knew it.

"Student 162, please sit properly," the examiner said.

Curious, Kagome looked up. There sitting diagonally two rows before her was an odd-looking male. He was sitting in a frog-like fashion with his bare toes on the edge of the desk. The pen in his right hand was being delicately held by his fingertips, almost as if it was a something dirty. His black hair was wild and messy, but the way the tips of his hair seemed to hold no weight showed her that he washed his hair often. The heavy dark bags under his eyes, which stood out form his pale skin, indicated his insomnia tendencies; and his skin tone suggested he did not venture out often. He seemed to only have the eyes for Raito-kun, who was staring back from two fronts before him.

Who was he? Why was her heart beating so fast all of a sudden? Why did she feel as though something big was going to happen? Just what is going on?

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

**What do you think of my third chapter? Please Read and Review. I would love to know how good and how bad my fics are. If you want to flame me, at least make it constructive criticism.**

**Disclaimer:****Anything ****you ****recognize ****f****ro****m ****the ****Death ****Note ****Series ****and ****the ****Inuyasha ****Series ****aren****'****t ****mines; ****they ****belong ****to ****their ****respective ****owners****. ****Anything ****else ****belongs ****to ****me. **Please ask for permission and getting it before taking my things.


	4. Moon in the Sky

_**Sun's Night**_

**Hi! Thanks for wanting to read this fanfic. I hope you like this story. **

**Wow. I can't believe that I've written another chapter so fast. You guys must be happy. But, I'm sorry to say that this won't happen all the time. Please enjoy the speed of my updates until the plot bunnies fail on me, again.**

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

**Chapter 4 Moon in the Sky**

It had been four months. Four months since her biological family was killed by a demon seeking the Shikon no Tama. Four months since the portal in the well vanished. Four months since she was living at the Yagami residence. Four months since she had discovered Kira's true identity and his method of killing.

Four months of trying to get Raito-kun to forfeit his ownership over the Death Note. Four months of trying to get Kira to stop. Four months of trying to steal the Death Note and hide it away from Raito-kun (the former she had succeeded twice and the latter she never had). Four months of threatening to purify Ryuk or to take away all his apples or bribing him with unlimited apples, all to get the shinigami to steal the notebook from her childhood friend (which led to Raito-kun blackmailing her with certain unspeakable things from the past). Four months of trying and failing.

Yes, it had been four months, four _long_ months.

And now it was now April, and both Raito-kun and herself were starting their new school year at To-oh University (she was really thankful for the tutoring, though hellish, she had received from her childhood friend).

"And a few word from the freshman representatives, Yagami Raito."

"Here," he said, standing up nonchalantly.

Kagome's eyebrow twitched. That arrogant little... Just because his IQ was much higher than the rest of the world's population, he doesn't need to act like receiving that position was a given! Okay, maybe it was. She sighed. Sometimes, she really didn't know whether it was a good thing or not to know such a good-looking and intelligent guy. Yes, he was pleasing to the eyes. Yes, he is a great tutor. Yes, he's one of the best friends anyone can hope for (when he's not being Kira).

But the girls! Yes, the girls and their glares. They don't approach Raito (probably due to the feeling of being inept, a feeling she often felt around him on certain subjects), but they would glare at _any_ girl (namely her) who would approach him.

And, he was Kira, on top of that. She had just come back from sengoku jidai battling youkai not long ago, and she was finding herself facing a greater foe than Naraku. If he was just a random stranger on the streets, she would have no qualms about purifying the Death Note and Ryuk to ashes. But she didn't know how that would affect Raito. Stupid shinigami for being so tight-lipped about it. He claimed that it wouldn't be nearly as fun if he had told her, but she knew that it was most likely false — Ryuk was withholding information so she wouldn't purify him with the fear of potentially harming Raito.

Stupid Raito. Stupid Raito and his growing god complex. Stupid Raito for being _too_ smart and arrogant to listen to her.

Who was the knowledgeable one on the supernatural anyways? Her. She was way more knowledgeable in that area than he was. But would he listen to her on how dangerous this Kira business could be? No, he wouldn't! He kept brushing her off and changing the subject whenever she brought it up. Well, at the very least, that was all he did. If Raito had threatened the life of his own family to prevent her from interfering, she would have acted immediately.

And now she had to helplessly watch his soul becoming more and more tainted with the Death Note's aura. Even her purifying powers couldn't help that much if he kept using the damned thing.

"And Ryuuga Hideki."

All at once, the room was filled with whispers and gossip.

'_It __was __that __guy!__' _Kagome thought, looking up to see a familiar figure, _'__The __guy __who __had __a __staring __contest __with __Raito __during __the __exams.__'_

The two smartest freshmen couldn't look anymore different. Raito-kun was as prim and neat as usual in his suit. His back was straight as he walked up the stage like a professional (most likely due to all the practice of going on stage to receive awards. Ryuuga-san, conversely, looked like the way he did back then in the exams, except, this time, he was wearing a pair of white sneakers. Moreover, his back was hunched (she was certain that if he straighten his back, he would be as tall as, if not taller, than Raito) as he went up the stairs with his long knobby fingers slipped casually in his jean pockets.

Ryuuga also held onto his speech paper in a rather awkward manner, akin to how he held the pen back then, using only his fingertips. Unlike Raito who read the speech in a clear loud voice, the black-haired male seemed to be bored, reading the words in a lazy monotone. When the speech (which was overly cliché) was over, Raito gave the crowd a polite bow while Ryuuga merely scratched the back of his head lazily.

But it was not until they were descending the stairs that Kagome remembered the feeling of urgency she felt when she first laid her eyes on him during the exams. They were the same feelings that she often got just before a battle during her adventures in sengoku jidai.

Kagome watched as Ryuuga's childlike look was replaced by something more calculating. It wasn't a conspicuous change, but to someone who was trained to read body language to figure out the opponent's next move, it was very obvious. He then whispered something to Raito, something that made her friend tense up. (She really should brush up on her lip-reading skills. In sengoku jidai, there wasn't any need to do so with Inuyasha's excellent hearing.) To her trained eyes, she noticed a slight, almost unnoticeable, stagger in his footsteps before Raito calmed himself down and shook hands with the strange male.

She glanced at Raito, who sat down beside her silently.

Who was he? What was going on? Was Ryuuga an enemy? Did Ryuuga know that Raito was Kira? Did he suspect Raito was Kira? If so, was Ryuuga an undercover cop or detective? Or did Ryuuga come from a line of priests and priestesses? Could he see Ryuk? Did he know about shinigami? Did he know about Death Notes? Kagome had to bite the inside of her cheeks to stop the barrage of questions from spilling out of her mouth.

"Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk," Ryuk chuckled from above. "If he is really L, this will be fun!"

L? Her eyes widened in shock, staring at the black-haired male who was sitting with his knees to his chest and the pad of his thumb on his lips. What was L doing here? Does L suspect Raito-kun of being Kira? Well, he really was, but that's beside the point. How can she protect Raito-kun if his greatest rival had shown himself? With direct contact with the challenger, it would be going to make him work harder. She knew just how competitive Raito-kun could be sometimes. This would only make him immerse himself in his Kira plans even more. Stupid L for showing up. Now she'd have an even harder time wearing Raito-kun down.

But, maybe, just maybe, this could work into her favour. If Raito-kun becomes too pressured (which was very probable as L was said to be the world's greatest detective), he may be more willing to stop this Kira business. Yes, that could work. But the two of them are smart, very smart. They may be able to see through her every move. She must be very careful about her every word and action around them. She needed to make use of every trick taught to her from her adventures in sengoku jidai and use it against and for both of them.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Kagome glanced at Raito apprehensively. Keeping a stony face, he had not spoken a word since they had left the campus. "Raito-kun?" she asked, tentatively reaching out to touch his shoulder.

Suddenly, like a broken dam, Raito fisted his hair in anger, baring his teeth and growling. "Damn him! He played me like a fool! L, you bastard," he said, gritting his teeth. "I've never been this humiliated in my life."

"Then just exchange half of your life span for the shinigami eyes and kill him," Ryuk suggested.

"If he's not the real L and I kill him, then L will know that I'm Kira!" Raito yelled, lashing out at the flabbergasted creature. "Unlike you shinigami, we have to worry about what happens after we kill someone."

Kagome wrapped her arms around him. "Raito-kun, calm down. This anger would only cloud your mind; and a clouded mind would lead to mistakes. Take a deep breath and calm down, Raito-kun, calm down."

He nodded and took a few deep breathes. "You're on my side, aren't you, Gome?"

Smiling softly, she replied, "Yes and no. You know that, Raito-kun, I've told you this earlier. Gome would not betray Raito-kun. Kira is Gome's enemy. Gome would do anything in her power to destroy Kira once and for all _without_ harming Raito-kun. Gome would not be the first one to reveal the truth, but she would take advantage of any parts of the truth that had been brought out into the open. Gome would try her best to free Raito-kun from Kira." She gave him a chaste kiss on the forehead. "Don't worry. Not even L would sway my thoughts, no matter how similar our goals are."

But not even she could save Raito if he became completely influenced by Kira. Like how Naraku rose from the Onigumo and numerous demons and became a different being, Raito, too, would cease to be Raito if he continued on this path. Kira may even turn the Death note against his own family. When... If that happened, she would destroy him. As she had told Raito, Kira was her enemy. If his soul was consumed, he would no longer be Raito-kun and she would no longer have to hold back.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

L had found Yagami-kun and Higurashi-chan rather interesting. From what he had gathered, underneath his polite "perfect son" façade, Yagami-kun was a rather childish and competitive person. Arrogant and egotistical as well. Coupled with a strong sense of justice and his connections to the Kira case, Yagami-kun was really fitting into his profile of Kira. But, what about the girl? Does she have any connections to the Kira case besides being a family friend of the Yagami? He nibbled on his thumb as he stared at the files on the computer screen.

For all accounts, Higurashi-chan was just an average girl with links to the NDP due to her late father. That is, until the oddities that had happened to her were factored into the equation. On her fifteenth birthday, she was reported to be missing. She reappeared three days later, however, claiming that she had been visiting a family friend but her family had forgotten about it and panicked. The suspicious part of that was the lack of proof (other than her family's words) to back up her claim. Then again, it was not as if the police could stalk a citizen for no apparent reason to gather information on their day-to-day life, so the incident was brushed off.

After that, her mysterious illnesses began — ranging from a mere flu to breast cancer to youkaistensis (something he was sure did not exist). All in all, she shouldn't even be alive much less looking as healthy as she did now. In fact, she could be studied to see how her body had conquered so many fatal diseases. Moreover, he could tell that her muscles were very well-toned, something that could not have happened if she were bedridden so often. And with some the diseases her family claimed she had, she should have been resting under the care of a hospital, definitely not at home.

What kind of incompetent idiots were the people at her school anyways? If a student claimed to have serious diseases such as lung cancer, shouldn't they inquire for a doctor's note of some sort for proof?

Then, there were her scars. Some of them could have been suicidal attempts, but most of them were definitely not. How could anyone slash themselves on their back? They couldn't. Well, most aren't flexible enough to, and Higurashi should fit into that category. And those particular scars were almost parallel and were more narrowed at both ends of those lines, as if being clawed by some sort of beast.

The diseases her family claimed she had were definitely related to whatever had given her those scars. Perhaps she was in an abusive relationship. No. What kind of family would stand on the sidelines for years without alerting the police? Unless her family were the ones abusing her. But it did not make any sense. Why would it suddenly happen after her fifteenth birthday? From what he had gathered, the only family members she was living with were her grandfather, her mother, and her younger brother. And none of them had a similar record of illnesses, which was somewhat odd given their proximity with her during those times.

Perhaps they were being threatened by someone, or an organization. There was a record of a strange white-haired male dressed in a red kimono crashing a school play and kidnapping the girl. However, before she was taken away, Higurashi had somehow incorporated the male into the play, so most people were none the wiser. Those were some commendable acting skills, he'd had to say. That happened a few years back, therefore, it would not be surprising if her acting skills had improved since then.

She seemed to know something, something important, regarding Yagami-kun. L took a sip of coffee-drenched sugar. Higurashi-chan could often be seen shooting worried looks at the male. Once in a while, he had even caught her staring at nothing, but seemingly conversing with someone without words or elaborate gestures. Yes, while that girl didn't seem to be Kira, she definitely knew more than she was revealing.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Kagome stopped in her tracks, seeing the huge crowd around the tennis field. And her senses told her that Ryuk and Raito-kun was present as well. What was going on? After catching the attention of Ryuk by spiking up her aura for a few seconds, the two of them made their way to a secluded tree nearby. "What is going on here?" she whispered to the chuckling creature.

"Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk. L had challenged Raito to a tennis match."

"Four-four!"

"We've even got a referee and a linesman," Ryuk commented unnecessarily.

'_No. __It__'__s __more __than __that.__'_ Kagome thought, eyes narrowed. _'__A __lot __more __than __that.__'_ According to Raito, the Kira case had not even been hinted at between him and L since the opening ceremonies. And those two had been giving an impression of a having strong friendship to the ignorant as they could often be found together on the campus. Heck, L even had every class with Raito. That stalker.

This tennis match had complicated underlying meanings to it. Of course, she didn't really know what was going on in their heads (her brain was not on the same wavelengths as those two abnormal beings), but she speculated that Raito and L were testing each other... _again_.

Kagome sighed. Why do they have to make the most simplest of things so complicated? She was really glad that she didn't think like them. It must be so tiring being so paranoid. She had enough of that during the times they had to deal with Naraku. Though, she had to admit that those too were paranoid for a good reason — one was L, the world's greatest detective, and the other was Kira, the mysterious god-like killer. Both of them were aware of the other's status as far as she was able to tell. The only thing left to do is to prove that Raito-kun was Kira, something that said male would use all his power and intelligence to prevent.

"Six-four! Yagami wins!" the referee shouted.

With two bottles of water in her hands, Kagome walked over to the tennis court, just in time to hear L say, "To tell you the truth, I think you're Kira. Don't slow down on my account though. I do want to have our little chat... Get my drift?"

She froze at where she stood by the fence. Boy was she glad to have her trained ears. Anyone else wouldn't have picked up on those words. Really, L had been declaring battle after battle, hadn't he? First, it was the broadcast, then coming up to Raito in person and informing him of his identity (which could potentially be false), and now he was outright saying that he thought Raito was Kira.

"...aid us on the investigation with your excellent investigative abilities."

Deciding to cut in, Kagome entered the court. "Raito-kun, Ryuuga-san, here's some water. Your throats must be parched from that match. It was really intense by the way."

Muttering their thanks, the boys took the offered water and chugged it down like a dehydrated man previously lost in the desert.

"There are too many people here. Let's talk somewhere else," L said.

Raito nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I didn't think that a simple game of tennis would attract so many people."

Kagome huffed. Maybe it was because they weren't thinking about anything beyond trying to analyze the other. Stupid geniuses.

"Gome, you coming?"

She looked up in surprise and pointed at herself. "Me?"

"Yes, _of __course_ you. Who else?" Raito said as she caught up with them. Boy did they walk fast.

"But I thought you'd want to speak alone." She knew that Ryuk would be following Raito, but that shinigami did not count in her books.

L glanced at her, nibbling on the pad of his thumb. "Higurashi-chan should come. I'd like to speak with her as well."

"Oh... Okay, if you guys say so..."

About twenty minutes later, they arrived at Raito's favourite spot at his favourite café. "I like the coffee here," he explained. "If we talk in the corner, we won't have to worry about eavesdroppers."

"Are you _sure_ I should be here?" Kagome asked again, sitting down next to Raito. "I mean, you guys are going to have a serious chat with each other, right? I'll just be in the way." She really didn't want to get in between the two adversaries so early in the 'game'. Besides, she could always ask Ryuk to tell her what happened later.

"Stay, Gome."

"Yes, do stay."

Kagome sat there, feeling rather ignored, as the two males started their word games. There was no way that she was going to force her mind to keep up with them. Meanwhile, she would treat herself with a nice parfait. She zoned them out until L brought out some unpublicized info, namely information on the twelve FBI agents' death and the three letters some of Kira's victims wrote before their death.

Her eye twitched slightly when Raito mentioned the hidden message in the letters — "L, did you know that shinigami only eats apples?" That arrogant fool! What was he trying to pull? If L finds out about Ryuk, Raito is as good as dead. How was she supposed to help him if he wasn't even protecting himself? That idiot!

And what was she doing here? She was just being ignored anyways. Really, what happened to the good ole' days where the only mind games, which involved emotional conflict of some sort, were initiated by Naraku? _Those_ she could handle. Naraku was defeated by them in the end, wasn't he? With _his_ type of mind games, the best weapon against him was trust and comrades. Oh, and the skills to slay youkai and see through his deceptions.

But with these two? Their types of mind games really were _mind_ games; hardly any other emotions were involved besides competitiveness. If she was going up against any one of them, they were going to win hands down.

"Higurashi-chan."

"Huh?" she said intelligently, looking up from her near finished parfait. "Er, yes?"

"What do you think of shinigami?" L asked. "Do you believe that they are real?"

Ignoring Raito's stare, Kagome nodded. "Of course, I believe they're real." Especially since there was once hovering above their head at the moment. "I grew up hearing stories about supernatural creatures from jii-chan. But there aren't a lot of stories regarding shinigami, mainly because not everyone is able to see them. And those who can see shinigami are unlikely to go up to one and ask about its lifestyle and whatnot," she said chuckling lightly. "I mean, the shinigami drawn in the scrolls have appearances which could cause people to dub them as monsters. Even _I_ wouldn't go up to one if I randomly spot one on the streets. I'd most likely go around it than confronting the shinigami." And she really would, still would, unless said shinigami was somehow related to the Kira case.

Eating another scoop of her parfait, she continued on, "Anyhow, from what I can remember, jii-chan said that shinigami lives in their realm and rarely ventures down to the human realm. That's another reason why there is limited information about them. And as their name suggests, they are able to take lives, but their method of killing was not recorded in any of the scrolls jii-chan had read." Kagome dimly noted the way Raito's aura relaxed a little. "But there may be other scrolls somewhere out there which contain that information. The Higurashi Shrine specialized in the legend of the Shikon no Tama and we still had scrolls on shinigami, so it's not surprising if other shrines had more. Maybe you should check that out."

If L and his team found the information beforehand, then it didn't mean that _she_ was the one to reveal the truth on shinigami and their Death Notes. Besides, it was _Raito-kun_'s fault for mentioning the shinigami to L in the first place. As promised, she was going to take advantage of it.

L hummed thoughtfully, nibbling on the pad of his thumb. "Hm... That could be possible. Perhaps Kira had came across information on shinigami and wanted to play shinigami," he muttered to himself. "Higurashi-chan, do apples and shinigami have any relationships?"

Kagome shrugged. "Perhaps they like eating it?" she said, ignoring Ryuk vigorous nod. "That's what the note said, right? Maybe Kira was bribing one with apples or something." She could feel the spike of anger in Raito's aura. "Or maybe it was something else all together. I mean, there are many myths involving apples. Who knows? This apple thing could be just something to throw you off. This Kira person doesn't sound mentally sane to me." And he won't be if he became completely influenced by the Death Note and his own darkness. "So the apple thing could be an inside joke of his. But if you want, I could help you do some research on shinigami and apples." And slip in some hints along the way.

"And what do you think of Kira?" L said out of the blue.

"Kira is wrong," she said truthfully. "Murder is murder, no matter what you try to justify it with." Yes, she was a murderer, and she knew it. She had killed many, demons and humans alike. She can never atone for the lives she had taken. But, at the very least, she could take comfort in the fact that she had killed to save lives — lives which would not have been threatened if it were not for her and her stupidity. "I want Kira to stop taking lives. Yes, the crime rate has lowered, but ruling by fear is not the way to go. Fear could make people do many things. Kira, the one they currently worship, would eventually become the target of their hate. Kira is just a repeat of Hitler." _'__Please, __Raito-kun, __listen __to __me. __Please __stop __all __the __killing. __Raito-kun!__'_

_Bi bi bi_

"Excuse me," L said, picking up in cell phone in an awkward manner.

"Ryuuzaki, something happened!" Kagome heard the caller say.

"What is it?"

"Chief Yagami is ill!"

Kagome's eyes widened as did L's.

Another ringtone was heard,

"Ah... Mine too," Raito said, pressing the call button. He froze upon hearing what the caller said. Cold sweat precipitated on his paling skin, and his eyes dilated. "He had a heart attack..." he said numbly.

'_No. It can't be!'_

"Could it be... Kira?" L and Raito asked in sync.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"_It's the power to kill that is evil, not the person who has it. It's a misfortune to have that power, and it doesn't matter how it's used — the happiness achieved by murdering people cannot be true happiness," Soichiro said, lying on the hospital bed._

"_Ryuk, I had never though of picking up the Death Note as a misfortune. Actually, it's the best thing that had ever happened to me. With it, I'll create a perfect world."_

"_The concept of 'perfect' is subjective, Raito-kun, you know that."_

"_No more wars, Gome. No more sorrow. No more hatred. With the Death note, we can build a utopia!"_

"_Kira is wrong. Murder is murder, no matter what you try to justify it with. Kira is just a repeat of Hitler."_

"_Kira-sama is the best! Kira-sama is purging the world of evil. Follow Kira-sama and you'd be saved."_

"_You are not God, Raito-kun. You are merely a human with a terrible power in his hands. Please stop all this killing before it's too late. I do not wish to destroy you to eliminate Kira."_

"_Kira-sama must be God. This is God's judgement!"_

"_How different are you from the people who you were purging the world of?"_

"_Youko-chan, you're wrong. Kira-sama is not a murderer. Kira-sama is just making the world a better place. Without eliminating evil, bad people would always be around."_

"_No __one __is __perfect, __not __even __you... __not __even __me. __Everyone __has __a dark __side. __If __you __wish __to __eliminate __all __the __bad __people __in __the __world, __you__'__ll __have __to __kill _everyone_.__"_

"_And then all that'd be left would be the innocents of this world, Gome."_

"_I __have __killed __too, __Raito-kun. __My __hands __are __tainted __with __blood, __real __blood._"

"_Good grief, I'd say. Those are just good-for-nothing serial killers and rapists. Who'd cares about them? With them gone, we wouldn't have to worry anymore."_

"_Knowing this, Raito-kun, will you also write my name into the Death Note?"_

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

**What do you think of my fourth chapter? Please Read and Review. I would love to know how good and how bad my fics are. If you want to flame me, at least make it constructive criticism.**

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the Death Note Series and the Inuyasha Series aren't mines; they belong to their respective owners. Anything else belongs to me. **Please ask for permission and getting it before taking my things.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

_May fantasy guide your writing through it all - Dementra_


	5. A Star Descends

_**Sun's Night**_

**Hi! Thanks for wanting to read this fanfic. I hope you like this story. **

**Sorry for the late update. I'm having my exams at the moment. I hope the length of this chapter would make up for it.**

**A reviewer had asked about the ending of Chapter 4. I was wondering if other people have the same question, so I've decided to explain it here instead of directly to the reviewer. First of all, that wasn't what I intended to do at the beginning, but the story wrote itself and I liked it, so I kept it. I was originally going to write the hospital scene. **

**Secondly, it was meant to be written in Raito's POV. I hope everyone could see that. The resulting ending was a representation of the conflict going on in Raito's mind between Kira and Raito. In the original Death Note, there wasn't someone trying to pull him away from the Death Note at the beginning. And L sure wasn't going to do so. In my opinion, because L was a worthy opponent in their competition, Raito couldn't resist falling deeper and deeper into his Kira persona.**

**I see Kagome as someone who would try to save Raito from himself but wouldn't let others condemn him. In the original Inuyasha, wasn't that what she did for Inuyasha? She loved Inuyasha enough turn a blind eye (for most part) to his meetings with Kikyou, but she prevented Kikyou from pulling him into Hell because she didn't think Inuyasha deserved that. Kagome had saved Inuyasha from his own personal demons, and in this fanfic, she is trying to save Raito from his.**

**Raito is intoxicated by the power he now wields due to the Death Note. The comments from Kira worshipers only stroked his ego even more. As I've mentioned earlier, the presence of L only makes him want to test his limits even more. However, there's Kagome who is very persistent in trying to get him to stop. Raito hasn't fallen deep enough into his Kira persona to completely ignore her words. And the fact that she was his childhood friend helped (he didn't kill her yet, did he?).**

**It's this conflict he's facing that would make him differ from the canon Raito, who became Kira completely. And because of this, his actions and thoughts would differ (somewhat) as well.**

**As I'm trying to focus on characterization (I hope I succeeded), you'd be seeing more scenes regarding the conflict a character was faced with. Raito isn't the only one as I'm sure you've all noticed. As of last chapter, Kagome had been stressing over how to save Raito from himself and Kira-haters and the potential future where she would have to stain her hands in his blood. And there would be other characters with inner conflicts of their own later on in the story.**

**_Sun__'__s __Night_ is listed under drama for a reason.**

**Also, the reason why I'm mainly writing in Kagome's POV so far is because the manga has already included Raito and L's thoughts during those scenes. I didn't want to copy the manga completely.**

**Anyways, I hope you all would enjoy Chapter 5.**

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

**Chapter 5 A Star Descends**

Kagome yawned as she randomly clicked on the remote. Sachiko-oba-san was visiting Sochiro-oji-san in the hospital. Sayu-chan was at her friends. Raito-kun was upstairs studying — that workaholic. Ryuk had gone out doing some shinigami stuff. And she was here, bored to death, with nothing much to do.

_Click _

"Thunder shock now!"

_Click _

"My son! My son's still in the fire!"

_Click _

"-had received two life sentences on the account of-"

_Click _

"We are certain that these were really sent from Kira."

'_Wait.__'_ Kagome straighten up instantly. _'__Kira __did __what?__'_

"Furthermore, he had instructed us to broadcast the second tape today at five fifty-nine p.m," the man on the television said, holding out a cassette tape marked with the number two. "We haven't watched it ourselves, but the tape should validate the other tapes."

"Raito-kun! Come down this instant! Hurry!"

Footsteps quickly descended the stairs. "What is it, Gome?"

Kagome just pointed at the screen where the word KIRA was in an imitation of L's former broadcast.

"What is going on?" Raito said, sitting down next to her on the couch, as a computer-altered voice sounded from the television.

She huffed. "That's what I'll like to know. You haven't done something idiotic like this, right? This doesn't seem like your style." If he had, she would be more than happy to strangle him for being so arrogant. Yes, she was waiting for him to slip up, but _this_ was just moronic, even by a psychopath's standards (not that she would know how a psychopath thought).

"If I did, it would've been a lot more professional," Raito scoffed. "It's obviously a homemade video and the words obviously are hand-drawn."

In the next few minutes, they, along with everyone who was following the broadcast, witnessed the deaths of two news reporters in two different channels.

Kagome and Raito shared a look. Someone else had access to a Death Note and was impersonating Kira.

Lightly biting the inside of her cheeks, she continued to watch the broadcast with narrowed eyes. Another player had entered the game. Whoever that copycat was, he or she was putting a big dent in her plans. Not that she wasn't used to having new players appearing at random intervals and screwing up their plans. That was what Naraku often did, after all.

Still, this copycat had Kira all wrong. Raito wouldn't kill innocent people just because they had spoken against him. From what she had heard from Raito, the only innocent people he had killed were the ones who had threatened him, namely those twelve FBI members and the fake L (though, in his earlier explanation, Raito-kun had admitted the latter's death a was spur of the moment thing and it had been a stupid thing for him to do).

The copycat was being more of a terrorist than Raito ever was. The copycat was outright threatening the lives of everyone if they not comply with his or her commands. If Raito-kun was like this, she would be living with the regret of eliminating her childhood friend by now. She was really glad that he wasn't like the copycat, even though he had killed numerous people. This broadcast only proved that Raito-kun's soul could still be saved.

"We are now live at the front entrance of Sakura TV. This was just in. There's someone lying in front if Sakura TV station's front doors. This is a live feed from the front of the Sakura TV station. We don't have a correspondent at the site, but what you're seeing is a live feed from the front of Sakura TV!"

Recognizing the still figure, Raito said, "That's Ukita-san from tou-san's investigation team."

Kagome gasped. "Does that mean that Sochiro-oji-san is in danger?"

He shook his head, his mind working at full speed. "No. If that's so, then everyone on the team would've been dead by now. We both know that, with a Death Note, you'd need both the name and the face to kill. This Kira is most likely somewhere in or near the station, watching for intruders. There's no doubt that L is trying to stop the broadcast. Or, maybe, Kira had set up spy cameras to keep watch. But if that's so, how could he get their names? Could his shinigami have told him?" Raito's eyes narrowed. "No. If the shinigami is anything like Ryuk, then it probably won't. So how...?"

Kagome agreed with him. The shinigami wasn't likely to inform the copycat of their victim's name. But weren't the shinigami the same? They didn't need to interact with humans to get their names either. They could kill just as easily even if they were in the shinigami realm. How did they get their target's name again?

Her eyes widened slightly in realization. Oh. Right! Their eyes! Shinigami had the ability to see a person's name and lifespan. Didn't Ryuk offer Raito-kun the shinigami eyes for half of his lifespan? But Raito-kun turned it down. The copycat must've taken the offer from his or her shinigami. Chikuso. This was getting worse. If both Kira decided to work together, there was no telling how fast Raito-kun's soul would become consumed.

Kagome glanced at Raito, who had a calculating gleam in his eyes. No. She mustn't let them meet. She mustn't let him find out about the copycat's shinigami eyes (if he hadn't already figured it out). She had to find the copycat before Raito-kun did. It shouldn't be _too_ hard. After all, how often do people have a shinigami following them following them around? Unlike her, Raito wouldn't be able to see other shinigami without touching its Death Note, so it should work out. Right? She was sure that either Kira would make a move to contact the other. As long as she stayed near Raito, she would eventually come across the copycat.

Out of the blue, an armoured police car appeared on the screen and crashed through the front entrance of the Sakura TV station. A figure in a suit with his or her head (no, it was definitely a male; no female had a figure like that) veiled by a jacket exited the car and ran further into the building. That person must be part of the Kira investigation team. From what she had heard from Raito, most of the police force backed out from the Kira case, so they are most likely unaware of the Kira's requirements for killing — hence, they wouldn't have bothered covering up their face. Minutes later, a police car arrived to the scene as well, and the two policemen who came out from that police car fell over dead, confirming her suspicions.

_Bi bi bi_

Being the closest, Raito picked up the phone. "Raito! Your father disappeared from the hospital after watching that Kira broadcast!" Sachiko said, panic clearly heard in her voice. "I think he's gone to the Sakura TV station!"

_What?_ His heartbeat thundered in his ears, and for a moment that was all he heard. _Tou-san __had __what?_

His mother's voice brought him out of his stupor. "Raito! What should I do?"

"Kaa-san, take a few deep breaths and calm down," Raito said, trying to calm his racing heart. "Tou-san is working with L. I'm sure that L has something up his sleeves to help him." At least, the bastard better had.

A few armoured police cars drove into the scene of crime. One by one, policemen ventured out, each carrying a black shield to cover their face, and filled up the gaps that the armoured cars didn't cover.

"Don't worry, kaa-san. Tou-san would be safe now. The police had arrived to help him."

Sachiko sighed in relief. "Yokatta, yokatta."

After saying their goodbyes, Raito hung up, still not taking his eyes off the screen. By doing this, his father had been saved, but the police had now more or less declared their view on Kira. The Kira impersonator would not take this lying down. To him, everyone on the police force was now his enemy.

Also, sending out some low quality video tapes and using innocent people as sacrifices are actions that damage the reputation of Kira. He could not allow the impersonator to continue. He could not just let him do as he pleased in the future. Moreover, judging by the way the policemen died, the impersonator had the shinigami eyes. Seeing that the impersonator seemed to be on his side, he could use him. Still, he needed to know that impersonators motives first before making an alliance with him.

And as for L, after an incident like this, he would be even more fanatic with his investigation. If the impersonator was caught and L found out about the Death Note, it would be disastrous for him.

Raito glanced at Kagome, who was staring at the TV screen. She was another wild card. So far, she had been true to her words — she had not revealed anything to L that L had not already known or could have known through research via human means. However, she had also tried to discreetly drop hints here and there for L (Did she really think that he wouldn't find out?). Being out of the loop, so to speak, L might have not picked up on them, but he probably would sooner or later. He would keep Kagome around for now. While she was being an annoyance at times, she wasn't hindering his plans too much.

Anyhow, the best course of action was to join the Kira investigation team, to better keep an eye on all three of them. L didn't reject him joining the team earlier and tou-san would be back soon, so he should be able to get on the team. Then, if the impersonator ever made a mistake, he'd just kill him and take the Death Note before L does. Still, whatever may happen, he should try to reach the impersonator without giving away his name and face and then control him.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"How did it go?" Kagome said, as the door locked with a click.

Raito sat down on his armchair and told her about today's meeting, which included the team's plans to catch the two Kira.

A few days ago, he had joined the Kira investigation team and, after watching the tapes the impersonator had sent to Sakura TV, supported L's claim that another Kira has risen. He would, of course, rather had kept quiet about the Second Kira and had the impersonator kill L. However, as it had turned out, pointing out the existence of another Kira was the correct choice as L had already informed the rest of the team of his suspicions beforehand. It was a test, a test which Raito had passed, somewhat. Then, he was tasked to impersonate the First Kira to send a message to the other Kira, who had replied back soon after. And that _idiot_ dared to mention "the eyes" and "shinigami" in the tape, a tape which was supposed to be broadcasted on TV.

Today, however, the Second Kira had sent in another package with excerpts from a diary, which listed a number of dates and three places — Aoyama, Shibuya, and the Tokyo Dome. Naturally, most of the Kira investigators had focused on the last one as "saw shinigami" was in the same sentence as the Tokyo Dome. Raito, however, knew that the meeting place was actually Aoyama, seeing that "exchanged notes" was associated with it in the diary. Only three people would have been able to figure that one out — Kira (meaning him), the Second Kira, and Kagome. Raito, obviously, had volunteered to help investigate Shibuya and Aoyama with the excuse that his presence would seem more natural than a policeman, something that the team had accepted.

"So, you're coming with me to Aoyama on the twenty-second," Raito said.

Kagome's eye twitched. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"We both know that you won't refuse." She stayed silent, so he addressed the shinigami instead. "Ryuk, I have some questions for you. Answer me if it's not against the rules: can two shinigami talk to each other when they meet in the human world?"

"Hm... How should I stay this... Personally, I won't do it without the approval of my human host. It's just against my personality. But there's no official rule against it, so other shinigami may approach me and say hello."

"So, if the fake Kira's shinigami see you, will he tell his human host that I'm Kira?"

The shinigami shrugged. "Probably not, but it's up to him. But I won't tell Raito if I see someone with a shinigami," Ryuk added, grinning.

"I won't either," Kagome cut in before her childhood friend could ask her a similar question. "You know my stand in this, Raito-kun. I'm smart enough to know that the Kira copycat is not so bright and is a Kira-worshiper. Kira would obviously use this opportunity to gain a loyal follower with a Death Note and the shinigami eyes."

He nodded, not even bothering to deny that. "But you're still going to go, aren't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Of course!" she said, affronted that he thought otherwise.

Raito smiled. Good. It was all going to plan. He had known that both Ryuk and Kagome were unlikely to inform him of another shinigami's presence; however, he was observant to say the least. Unlike Ryuk, who seemed to only wear one expression, Kagome was a lot easier to read. So, as long as he kept an eye on her every action, he should be able to find the Kira impersonator.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"Tarou-san, these are our college friends," Raito said. "Guys, this is my cousin, Tarou-san. This is his first time in Tokyo, so I'm showing him around Aoyama and Roppangi. He's also looking for a girlfriend. Any volunteers?"

Seeing 'Tarou-san's' confidence in Raito, Kagome chuckled inwardly. The poor guy didn't even know that Raito is just using him. But she guessed it was a good thing. As much as she hated to admit it, now that she knew about 'Tarou-san', she might end up taking advantage of his simplicity as well. She would do almost anything to delay the time Kira was caught and length the time she could have to convince Raito to forfeit is ownership over the Death Note. The Yagami were the only family she had left, and she did not want to lose another one.

Emi giggled and nudged Kagome as they walked along the streets. "Yagami-kun is like so nice. And handsome. And intelligent. _So_ unlike his dorky-looking cousin. Dun cha think?"

She sighed exasperatedly. "Emi-chan, you think _every __male_ on the planet is dorky or stupid compared to Raito-kun."

The girl nodded, not taking her eyes off of Raito. "Too true. Too true. Yagami-kun is like just so _perfect_," Emi said breathlessly.

Kagome scoffed. _No __one_ was perfect. Then again, perfection was subjective. Half-toning out her friend's chatter, her eyes darted around, searching for any signs of a shinigami other than Ryuk.

After a few minutes, the group went pass a café, and there the shinigami was, hovering over a girl dressed in a black school uniform. But that girl's hair... It reflected light differently than normal hair. Fake. She must be wearing a wig. Smart. It looked like the copycat wasn't as dumb as she had first thought.

Keeping an eye on the (so far) oblivious Raito, she leaned closer to Emi. "I'm going over to that store," Kagome pointed at the bookstore across the street, "to buy something. Don't tell Raito-kun, okay? It's going to be a surprise for his sister, and I don't want anyone to find out beforehand."

Emi giggled and nodded.

As the group passed by an alley, Kagome slipped away. She could count on Emi to not tell Raito anything until he asked her, which hopefully won't be a while. Ryuk, she knew, was taking amusement out of this, so he wouldn't tell Raito anything. Reaching into her bag, she took out a black cap, a light grey sports jacket, a pair of sunglasses, a pair of baggy grey-blue pants and another bag. Kagome quickly got into her attire, with her long hair hidden underneath the cap, and placed her first bag into the second one.

Pinpointing the other shinigami's aura, she followed it without a backward glance at Raito and the group. It was fortunate that she had made her move when she did seeing the copycat had left the café soon afterwards. Kagome walked swiftly up to the girl and whispered, "I know who you are, note-keeper and eye-bearer."

The girl tensed, as did the shinigami, whose hand inched towards its Death Note. She took a glance above Kagome's head. "W-who are you? I don't know what you're talking about," she said, taking a step back and tightening her grip on her handbag.

"I have the power to destroy the white one and the notebook before either of you could write my name in. If you don't want that to happen, follow me. This isn't a good place for our discussion."

An uncomfortable silence descended upon the trio as they headed towards a secluded area at a nearby park; and Kagome was the first to break that. "Hi, I'm Kagome. Sorry for that bad first impression. I just didn't want to make a scene in front of so many people. Kira definitely wouldn't be happy with me if I did that."

"You know Kira-sama?" she squealed, clasping her hands together in glee. "Misa wants to meet Kira-sama."

"So, your name is Misa?" Kagome said, leaning casually against a tree.

"Misa is Misa, and Misa _loves_ Kira-sama."

"Actually, that's what I want to talk about. Kira's true identity is being compromised by L and he needs your help." Misa's determined expression convinced Kagome that pretending to be Kira's spokesperson was a good idea. "I'm sure that your eyes have already told you whom he really is."

Misa nodded.

"But you can't meet him."

"Eh? Why not?"

"Raito-kun never had a history of associating with people like you. His female acquaintances are often on the brighter side of the spectrum. I can tell that you don't really fit into that group of people. If you meet up with him, L would become even more suspicious of Raito-kun and yourself. That would only hinder Kira. If you really want to help Raito-kun, you should keep your distance from him. You should also cease killing as well. Did you know that the message Kira sent you was actually fake?"

Misa gasped, her hand daintily covering her mouth. "What?"

"L was the one who actually sent the video. You fell into L's trap, Misa-chan." Kagome's eyes softened. This girl's aura was pure, a lot more pure than Raito's despite having the shinigami eyes. If she had to guess, she would say that Misa took up the mantle of being the Second Kira just to find Kira. She probably hadn't killed as much as Raito did. It looked like she had two people to save from the influence of the Death Notes. "You've even mentioned about the eyes and shinigami. That was something really idiotic. You've even away vital information to L, information that can cause Kira's death. Right now, Raito-kun is trying to cover up for your mistakes, to protect both you and himself. If you go up to him, his efforts would be for naught, you understand?"

With a determined glint in her eyes, the blonde nodded vigorously. "Misa Misa will not bother Raito-sama."

"And don't send anything more tapes to any TV stations."

"Hai!"

"I'd act as the middle person between you two, okay?" Kagome quickly finished out a piece of paper and handed it to Misa. "Here's my cell phone number. You can call or text me any time you wish. But I might have my phone on silent sometimes, especially if L and his team are nearby. Or you can send..." She glanced at the white shinigami, realizing that she had forgotten to ask for her name.

"Rem," the creature said.

"Or you can send Rem over. Now," Kagome took one of Misa's hands, "want to hang out somewhere? You know, doing girl stuff... We can go to the mall or something if you like." It would be easier to get Misa to listen to her if they were friends. And the first step was to hang out and get to know each other better. Chikuso. She was thinking like Raito-kun now! He has corrupted her brain! Getting involved in this Kira business really wasn't good for her mental health. Raito-kun owed her a nice vacation when, _not_ if, this was all over.

Misa looked up at her and grinned. "That'll be great!"

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"Ne ne Kagome-chan, why can't I see you name or lifespan?" Misa asked, happily eating her parfait. Kagome-chan was so nice! She had bought Misa to this wonderful café with such wonderful parfait. And she was close to Raito-sama. Even better. But what if she was Raito-sama's girlfriend. Misa should kill her. No. Didn't Kagome-chan say that they were only friends and the Kagome-chan was interested in someone else? Besides, Kagome-chan was so nice. And smart too. Misa would've ruined Raito-sama's hard work if Misa had gone to meet Raito-sama as planned.

Kagome paused in the middle of finishing her chocolate milkshake. "Eh? You can't see my name or lifespan? But don't you have the eyes?" She looked at Rem. "Rem, can't you see mines?"

The shinigami shook her head. "No, I cannot. What are you?"

Misa leaned forward, interested in her new friend's answer. _'__Maybe __Kagome-chan __isn__'__t __human. __A __shinigami? __Raito-sama__'__s __shinigami?__No, __Kagome __looks __too __pretty, __too __human, __to __be __a __shinigami. __Maybe __a __fairy? __Oh! __Misa __would _love _to __have __a __fairy __as __a __friend!__'_

"I'm a miko."

"A miko? What's that?"

Kagome smiled. "In this era, a miko is basically a female who tends to a shrine. Kinda like a houshi. However, in the past, a miko is known as the servant of god. They are more revered than houshi, despite having similar duties. A miko's main job back then is to act as the mediator between god and humans. They are also often healers and defenders against youkai."

"Eh? Youkai? They exist?"

"Hm mh," she nodded, paying for the food. "Back then, youkai roamed the earth as free as they pleased. Naturally, they often terrorized the weaker, inferior, humans. The only ones who have the power or strength to go up against them are the miko and the taijiya. A taijiya is someone who specializes in the art of youkai slaying. Unlike the miko, they don't have any purifying powers to eliminate youkai, so they used the bones of various fallen youkai to create weapons. Most youkai bones are very sturdy, even tougher than steel. Human-made youkai bone weapons are powerful, but youkai-made youkai bone weapons are even more powerful."

As she walked beside the other teen on the streets, Misa grinned, swinging her arms. Kagome-chan looked so happy. Her eyes were much brighter than before. And her face was flushed too. Kagome-chan must really loved stories about youkai and the like. Just like how Misa loved Kira-sama!

"Legend has it that a youkai blacksmith created two very powerful katana from the fangs of an inu no taishou. These two katana were given to the inu no taishou's sons. Tenseiga, the katana which can heal a hundred creatures with one strike, was inherited by the older son, a pureblood inu youkai. Conversely, Tessaiga, the katana with the power to slay a hundred creatures with one strike, was given to the younger son, a hanyou — half youkai, half human." Gesturing wildly, Kagome began to weave a tale about two rival brothers born from different mothers and their centuries-long path to reconciliation.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Raito scowled inwardly. Kagome's escape didn't escape his notice, but couldn't do anything about it without seeming suspicious. Matsuda would most likely fall for whatever lie he spew; however, the fool probably had a camera on him somewhere in courtesy of L, that annoyance. At the very least, he now knew that the Second Kira would not be found by the investigators today as Kagome would've undoubtedly taken the impersonator away from the area. He could always question her about it later.

And that was exactly what he did when Kagome got back home later in the evening. (_'__Hm... __The __Second __Kira __must __be __a __girl, __judging __from __the __shopping __bags __Gome __is __carrying. __Gome __don__'__t __usually __buy __this __much __stuff, __so __the __girl __must __be __pretty __rich __as __well. __Perhaps __a __celebrity __of __sorts?__They __sure __bought __a __lot __of __clothes.__'_) As she walked passed his room, he dragged her in and locked the door.

"You met the other Kira," Raito stated, leaning back against his armchair.

Not even bothering to deny it, she nodded. "Yeah, so what? I've even made sure that the two of you won't be meeting," Kagome bragged, puffing up her chest.

"Oh?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "What did you mean by that?"

"I told her that meeting you would cause trouble for you."

So it was a female... "That's true. Thanks for doing that for me," Raito said, wanting to burst her bubble. True to his calculations, Kagome pouted and turned away. "You know, so far all you've been doing is helping Kira. Are you _sure_ you're not on my side?" Teasing her had always been one of his pastimes as a child.

"I'm not on your side," she said, still not looking at him. "But I'm not on L's side either. I _told_ you that my goal is to stop Raito-kun, not to capture him." Kagome harrumphed. "But now I have _two_ Death Note users to stop. You two are such a headache. Kami forbid that another Kira copycat comes along!"

"It's impossible to have more than six Death Notes in the human realm simultaneously," Ryuk said.

"And how is _that_ comforting in any way?" Kagome paced around the room, tugging at her hair. "Just because there could be a maximum of six Death Notes, it doesn't mean that there'd be a maximum six Kira. Multiple people could use the same Death Note. Yagami Raito!" she said, pointing an accusing finger at him. "This is all _your_ fault!"

Amused, Raito watched as his childhood friend went back to pacing around the room as she muttered to herself. "... shinigami no baka ... Death Note of all things ... anybody can kill ... who invented ... tensai no bakayaro ... childish ... not a game ... play chess or something ... life or death ... lovesick puppies ... shinigami no ou no baka ... who made those rules anyways? ... Raito-kun no ahou ... Kagome no baka ... purify his ass ... wring his neck ... shoot his ass ... dismember him ..."

He felt a drop of cold sweat running down his neck. _'__Gome __sure __got __violent __over __the __years.__'_

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

L nibbled the pad of his thumb as he watched the video feeds his spies (namely Mogi-san and Aisawa-san) recorded. Something was going on here. He wasn't sure what, but his instincts were telling him that something was going on with his main suspect. Yagami-kun had gotten a girlfriend, Takada Kiyomi, just a mere day after investigating Shibuya, despite not showing any interest in her beforehand. And Higurashi-chan had also somehow met and befriended the model Amane Misa around the same time. Unlike Takada-san, Amane-san did not attend To-oh University. So how did those two meet? Higurashi-chan didn't strike him as the type to hang out with Amane's crowd.

Could either Takada-san or Amane-san be the Second Kira?

Tadaka-san was the smartest female in To-oh University of their year. It was unlikely that she would've made the mistakes the Second Kira had done. She would've found a better, sneakier, method to catch Kira's attention. Nevertheless, Tadaka-san was spotted during their investigation of Shibuya and had approached Yagami-kun to exchange greetings and inquire about an upcoming test before leaving again.

Amane-san, conversely, never made it into university. Her career as an model started late in middle school. Due to that, her grades had noticeably dropped from her former low A's and high B's to low B's and high C's. Between the two females, Amane-san was the most likely one to have sent the tapes to Sakura TV. However, she had not appeared on any of the video feeds regarding the investigation at Aoyama and Shibuya, though Higurashi-chan had slipped away from the group at Aoyama (Tachibana-san had claimed that she had gone to a nearby bookstore).

Could that be the place where they had met? The diary did mention that the Second Kira exchanged notebooks with a friend, and a bookstore was a place where you could buy notebooks. Could "notebook" be a code for something regarding their killing method? Or was "exchanging notebook" something as simple as "meeting each other"?

However, if that was true, then Higurashi-chan was more involved in this than he had first thought. This, of course, would raise Yagami-kun's Kira percentage by 10%. But if Higurashi-chan was aware of Kira's killing methods, she could be the Second Kira and the one who sent in the tapes would be the Third Kira. Then it would indicate that it was possible to have a group of Kira.

Or maybe he was just over thinking this.

Maybe the meeting would be at the Tokyo Dome as most of the task force had suspected. Seeing that the Second Kira seemed to less subtle than the First Kira, it was possible that he had sent such an obvious message. In a large crowd of people, it would be easier for the two Kira's meeting to go unnoticed.

L bit into his strawberry cheesecake.

For now, they should tighten the surveillance on Yagami-kun and Higurashi-chan and prepare for the investigation at Tokyo Dome.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Kagome whipped her head around. _'__What __was __that? __Could __it __be?__'_ Without another thought, she dashed off towards the fading aura, ignoring her friends' cries for her to stop. _'__Where __is __it? __Where __is __it? __Where __is __it? __There!__'_ There, just a few meters away, were small groups of university students strolling along the road. But which person emitted that youkai aura? Which one was it? She had to find him. She _had_ to! She had to find out what happened to all the youkai.

Or maybe it was just her wishful thinking...

No!

She couldn't have imagined that youkai aura. It was real. She had felt it. Youkai still existed in this era. They couldn't be gone. They just _couldn__'__t_. But what could she do? She couldn't sense that aura anymore. What could she do to lure out that youkai? The shikon no tama has already disappeared (thank god), so she couldn't use that. She needed something to catch the youkai's attention, and _only_ the youkai. But what?

What did she have on her at the moment? Her backpack, student ID, notebooks, stationeries, cell phone, earphones, water bottle, two novels for relieving boredom in the in-between class periods, wallet, and some snacks. Basically, everything she'd need for school and nothing she'd need to catch a youkai's attention. But she sure had the means to fry one, which weren't her intentions.

'_Wait. That's it!'_

Taking a deep breath, she loosened her control over her aura. There were several people who looked around, puzzled, before they were dragged back into their conversation by their friends. _'__Hm... __They __must __be __spiritually __sensitive, __but __haven__'__t __received __any __training.__'_ However, there was one person who excused himself from his friends and made his way towards her, keeping a steady eye contact. Sensing his leaking youkai aura, Kagome smiled and reigned hers back in.

She held out her hand. "Konnichiwa, youkai-san. Watashi wa Higuarshi Kagome desu."

The youkai stared at her hand warily and did not touch it, as if expecting her to purify him on the spot. "Honomaru... Daisuke," he said slowly.

"Sorry about that," Kagome said, retracting her hand. She was using all her self-control to not start grinning like an idiot and jumping up and down like a child. "I don't mean you any harm. I just wanted to get your attention. Want to go elsewhere to talk for a bit?"

A few minutes later, they were seated at the café where Raito has taken L and her to before with two cups of coffee in front of them.

"Well, what do you want?" Daisuke asked, crossing his arms.

"Have you ever heard of any of these names? Inuyasha, Shippou, Kouga, Ayame, Sesshoumaru, Totosai, and Shiori." Kagome noted that the youkai sitting across from her had tensed up even more as she listed the names.

Finally, after several dozen seconds, his body relaxed and leaned back against the chair. "What youkai doesn't know about the Western Lord and his allies?"

"Are they still alive?"

She could feel a spike in his aura. "Why do you want to know?"

"I mean you and them no harm. All I want to know is if they're still alive."

"Yes, they are."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

Kagome sighed in relief, leaning back against the chair with a giant grin on her face. "Yokatta. Yokatta. They're still alive. They're still alive." Placing some bills on the table, she said, "Thanks for telling me. The coffee's on me." She made a move to get out of her seat but was hindered by a hand.

"Matteyo. Why did you want to know about them?"

"They are special to me. Jaa ne, Honomaru-san."

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"Ah, Yagami-kun. Good afternoon," L said, looking up from her book.

What was _he_ doing here? Raito paused and then turned to look at Kiyomi. "Tadaka-san, I need to talk to him alone about something. Let's meet up again later."

The girl nodded and left.

"Your girlfriend?" L asked, not seeming surprised at all. Not that Raito would expect him to be surprised. Ryuk had told him about the spies L had sent to watch over him and Kagome.

"Never mind that. Didn't you say that it's scary to appear in public. Is this really okay?"

"I realized that if Yagami-kun isn't Kira, I should be fine... Since only Yagami-kun and Higurashi-chan know who I am. And I'm certain that Higurashi-chan isn't the First Kira and she's definitely not the Kira who can kill just by looking at a person. So, if I die in the next few days, Yagami-san will take over the investigation and every L will know that Yagami Raito is Kira."

Raito's eyes widened slightly. He was doing it again, claiming that there were other Ls.

"Eh? Didn't I tell you that I'm the only one calling myself L? L is a group of people like me."

Ryuk chuckled in the background.

"Ohayou, Raito-kun!" Kagome said, strolling towards them, waving. "Oh! Ryuuga-kun, you're here too. I thought that you were taking your courses online."

"I am," L said, nibbling on the pad of his thumb. "I just miss having an intelligent conversation with Yagami-kun."

Kagome chuckled, shaking her head. "Only you two would miss playing mind games. Anyways, I should get going soon. I have class in..." She checked her watch. "Ten minutes. It's nice seeing you again, Ryuuga-kun. Ja ne."

"Ja ne," the boys said.

When she was out of the hearing range, they went back to staring at each other. What Ryuuga said before... That L was a group of people thing must be a bluff. But was it really safe to kill him today? There was that L on the computer, so there may really be other L figures. And Gome... She would've undoubtedly disapproved of his plan if she had found out. He knew that Gome had taking a liking to both Ryuuga and Misa. She may even rebel against Kira even more if he killed Ryuuga. But Ryuuga was his enemy. Did he really need Kagome? No, not really.

"Wanna get cake?" L said, slipping on his sneakers.

It was probably too early to kill him now. Raito huffed mentally. Just when he was considering to kill him, he shows up and acts like he wasn't worried. Ryuuga thinks that he was Kira — not that it wasn't true — and that he was going to die — once again, that was true. So, Ryuuga took the initiative and instructed everyone on what to do. _'__Am __I __playing __into __his __trap?__'_

"Raito! There you are!" Raito turned around to see Misa and Rem. "I came to this area for a photo shoot, so I just dropped by to see you. The thing starts at two, so there's still time... The university is such an open place and easy to get in and out of."

'_Misa? What is she doing here?'_

They had met during one of the outings Kagome and Misa had. Misa, of course, had recognized him instantly and had latched onto his arm, claiming how much she had wanting to meet him but wasn't allowed to because of Kagome. That was when he realized she was the Second Kira. She also somehow became his self-proclaimed girlfriend. Kagome was the only reason why Misa didn't bother him too much. She had reminded the blonde about Raito's current situation with L. Though he was pretty certain that Misa would've disregarded that if Kagome didn't promise her to go shopping with her more often and pass on messages between them.

"Are you Raito's friend?" Misa asked L. "You look so unique. I'm Raito's girlfriend, Amane Misa."

"Ryuuga Hideki."

No... He had won! Misa could see Ryuuga's real name. A shinigami couldn't give out a human's name to other, but it was okay for Misa. And here he thought it'd be difficult to let these two meet... _'__Ryuuga, __you__'__ve __made __a __big __mistake __coming __out __today!__'_

"Eh? Ryuuga Hideki?"

'_Chikuso!__'_ Raito quickly held onto her shoulders and made her face him. "Yeah, His name is exactly the same as that pop idol's. Interesting, isn't it?" He glanced at Ryuuga, only to see him staring intensely at Misa with a strange smile on his face. Wait. Did Ryuuga notice something? No, it couldn't be. Anyone would be surprised to hear the name of that idol.

"Yagami-kun... I envy you."

'_Wait. What?'_

"I'm a big fan of Misa's after reading the March issue of '18!'."

Then as if a dam was broken, the surrounding university students noticed Misa and crowded around them, talking excitedly, asking for a autograph and to take a picture with her.

"Ah! Who touched my butt?" Misa asked, looking around.

L held up a finger. "I won't allow such actions in the school. I'll take responsibility for catching him," he said seriously, ending it with a nod. Misa just giggled, finding his antics funny.

A few seconds later, Misa's manager came into the scene and took the model away.

Now that Misa had met Ryuuga and Ryuuga knew that he was going out with her, it may get dangerous. He had to kill him quickly. _'__Thanks __to __you, __I__'__ve __made __up __my __mind, __Ryuuga.__'_ After Misa was out of sight, he would call her and get Ryuuga's real name. Then, he can kill him any time he wanted.

Raito quickly excused himself from Ryuuga, with the excuse of needing to go to the washroom, and dialled Misa's cell phone number. Hearing Misa's ringtone behind him, he turned around. _'__What t__he __heck?__'_ In L's hand was the source of the sound.

"Moshi moshi," L said, answering the phone.

"Ryuuga, what are you doing?" Raito asked, careful to keep his irritation out of his voice.

"I found this cell phone amidst the chaos earlier."

Raito narrowed his eyes, staring Ryuuga's back. He stole Misa's cell phone, so he must suspect that Misa was the Second Kira. If that was so, then Misa's sudden closeness to him would seem... No. Misa met Gome before she met me. With knowing Gome as the reason, it would not be surprising if Misa and he had met. And with his reputation, it would not be surprising that she ended up with him either.

"Moshi? Moshi?"

"Ah. That's Misa's cell phone. I'll return it to her." He could always just call her other cell phone later.

As L handed the cell phone over, L's cell phone rang. After speaking to the person on the other side of the line, L said, For Yagami-kun, this new may be good or bad." He then explained how Misa was arrested as the prime suspect for the Second Kira as they had found a lot of evidence in her room, such as the cat hair found on the Second Kira's video cassettes. Of course, Misa's agent was notified that Misa was under arrest for the possession of illegal drugs to prevent chaos that would've occurred otherwise.

Just great. Now he couldn't call her to get the name. He had underestimated Ryuuga. The phone plan with Misa had backfired on him. If he had captured Misa on the suspicion of being the Second Kira, Ryuuga's suspicion about him being Kira must've gotten worse. The if Misa burst out the truth...

"Higurashi-chan had also been arrested a few minutes ago. She's suspected of being an accomplice of either the First Kira or the Second Kira."

'_Gome, too? Chikuso!'_

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**What do you think of my fifth chapter? Please Read and Review. I would love to know how good and how bad my fics are. If you want to flame me, at least make it constructive criticism.**

**Disclaimer: ****Any thing ****you ****recognize ****f****ro****m ****the ****Death ****Note ****Series ****and ****the ****Inuyasha ****Series ****aren****'****t ****mines; ****they ****belong ****to ****their ****respective ****owners****. ****Anything ****else ****belongs ****to ****me. **Please ask for permission and getting it before taking my things.

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_May fantasy guide your writing through it all - Dementra_


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